Upon his return to prison following acquittals that could have landed him a life sentence, Sean "Diddy" Combs received a thunderous standing ovation from his fellow inmates, an act his lawyer hailed as perhaps his greatest contribution to advocating for incarcerated Black men in America. “They all exclaimed, ‘We seldom witness anyone triumph over the government,’” attorney Marc Agnifilo recounted to The Associated Press in a weekend interview, days after a jury cleared Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
The 55-year-old music mogul continues to be incarcerated at a federal facility in Brooklyn, following his conviction on Wednesday on prostitution-related charges that could potentially extend his jail term by several more years. However, any sentence will factor in the nearly 10 months he has already served.
Back in March 2024, when federal agents raided Combs’ residences in Los Angeles and Miami, Agnifilo recalled advising the “I’ll Be Missing You” crooner to brace for arrest on sex trafficking charges. “I said, ‘Perhaps it is your destiny to be the one who prevails,’” he reminisced during a telephone interview momentarily interrupted by a call from Combs within the prison walls. “They yearn to witness victory. I believe he took those words to heart.”
A trial strategy that resonated
The verdict delivered in a Manhattan federal court came after a seasoned team of eight defense lawyers, led by Agnifilo, executed a trial strategy that resonated deeply with the jurors. During the two-month trial, Combs discreetly passed notes to his lawyers during effective cross-examinations of nearly three dozen witnesses, including his former employees.
The lawyers painted a picture for the jurors of Combs as a jealous, abusive partner with a drug problem who indulged in threesomes with his girlfriends and another man as part of a swinger lifestyle. “You might think to yourself, ‘Wow, he’s truly a terrible boyfriend,’” Teny Geragos, one of Combs’ lawyers, said in her opening statement in May. However, she emphasized, “That is in no way sex trafficking.”
Agnifilo deemed the straightforward approach a “no-brainer.” “The violence was unmistakable, and we knew the prosecution would attempt to mislead the jury into believing it was part of a sex trafficking scheme. So, we had to clarify the situation for the jury to prevent any misconceptions,” he elaborated.
On Tuesday, Combs and his legal team appeared visibly deflated when the jury announced they were deadlocked on the racketeering charge but had reached a verdict on sex trafficking and lesser prostitution-related offenses. A judge subsequently ordered them to resume deliberations the following day. "No one knows what to think," Agnifilo remarked, before taking the night to ponder their next move.
The lawyer's morning revelation awoke him with a start. "I woke up at three in the morning and texted Teny, saying, 'We need to prepare a bail application,'" he recalled. "It's going to be a favorable verdict for us, but I believe he'll be convicted on the prostitution counts, so let's try to get him out." After deducing that the jurors would have convicted Combs of racketeering had they found him guilty of sex trafficking, as trafficking was an alleged component of racketeering, Agnifilo claimed he "rallied everyone's spirits."
Agnifilo met with Combs before the court session, and Combs entered the courtroom with renewed energy. Smiling, the former Catholic schoolboy prayed with his family. Within an hour, the jury delivered a verdict that matched Agnifilo's prediction.
Combs, seemingly humbled, mouthed "thank you" to the jurors and smiled as his family and supporters applauded. As he was escorted from the room, spectators cheered the defense team, with some chanting, "Dream Team! Dream Team!" Several lawyers, including Geragos, shed tears.
"This was a significant victory for the defense and a major setback for the prosecution," said Mitchell Epner, a lawyer who previously worked with Agnifilo as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey over two decades ago. He attributed the win to "a dream team of defense lawyers" facing prosecutors who usually prevail.
Last September, Agnifilo had already showcased his trial strategy—dismissing the charges and mocking the investigation that led to them—during an unsuccessful bail hearing. He argued that the case against Combs was an example of the "federal government intruding into our bedrooms."
Throughout the eight-week trial, Combs' lawyers meticulously dissected the prosecution's case through mostly gentle yet firm cross-examinations. Combs never took the stand, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses. Sarah Krissoff, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, commented that Combs' defense team "had a narrative from the outset and executed it flawlessly without presenting any witnesses. That's masterful."
Ironically, Agnifilo had expanded the use of racketeering laws as a federal prosecutor on an organized crime task force in New Jersey two decades ago, often using them to indict street gangs in violence-ridden cities. "I knew the statute's weaknesses," he said. "The statute is very mechanical. If you understand how the car works, you know where it will fail." He claimed prosecutors had "dozens of failure points" and that they "didn't have a conspiracy, they just didn't." Instead, he argued, they focused on Combs' personal life and tried to build a racketeering case around his personal assistants.
Some of these assistants, even after watching videos of Combs assaulting his long-term girlfriend, Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, had positive things to say about him during cross-examination.
Once freed, Agnifilo foresees a challenging road ahead for Combs as he addresses his personal demons and likely re-enrolls in a domestic abusers program that he had just started before his arrest. "He's doing OK," said Agnifilo, who speaks with him several times a day. He added that Combs genuinely desires improvement and "recognizes his flaws, like everyone else, that he never addressed." "He's passionate about everything. I think he's come to realize that he has these flaws, and no amount of fame or fortune can erase them," Agnifilo said. "You can't cover them up."
For Agnifilo, a final surprise awaited him after Combs' bail was denied when a man collapsed into violent seizures at the elevators outside the courtroom. "I'm like, 'What the hell?'" recalled the lawyer, who has experience in treating seizures. Agnifilo straddled the man, pulled him onto his side, and used a foot to prevent him from rolling backward, while his law partner, Jacob Kaplan, placed a backpack under the man's head and Agnifilo's daughter checked his pulse. "We ensured he didn't choke on vomit. It was chaos. I was concerned about him," he said.
The man was eventually taken away conscious by rescue workers, leaving Agnifilo to reflect on a tumultuous day. "It was like I was being pranked by fate," he said.
