By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was portrayed in his lawyer’s closing argument on Friday as the victim of an overzealous prosecution that tried to turn the recreational use of drugs and a swinger lifestyle into a racketeering conspiracy that could put the music mogul behind bars for life.
Attorney Marc Angifilo mocked the government’s case against Combs and belittled the agents who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil at his properties as he began a presentation expected to last several hours.
“Way to go, fellas,” he said of the agents.
He said prosecutors had “badly exaggerated” evidence of the swinger lifestyle and threesomes to combine it with recreational drug use and call it a racketeering conspiracy.
“He did not do the things he’s charged with. He didn’t do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking,” the lawyer said.
Agnifilo also called Combs’ prosecution a “fake trial” and ridiculed the notion that he engaged in racketeering. “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” Agnifilo asked. “Did any witness get on that witness stand and say yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise — I engaged in racketeering?” No, Agnifilo argued, telling jurors that those accusations were a figment of the prosecution’s imagination.
Combs’ family, including six of his children and his mother, were in the audience for the closing.
All his life Combs has taken care of people, Agnifilo said, including the ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym Jane, whose rent he’s paying.
“I don’t know what Jane is doing today,” Agnifilo said. “But she’s doing it in a house he’s paying for.”
Referring to lawsuits filed by Combs’ accusers, he said: “This isn’t about crime. It’s about money. This is about money.”
He noted that Combs’ girlfriend of nearly 11 years — Casandra “Cassie” Ventura — sued him in a lawsuit that was settled for $20 million in a day in November 2023, triggering a federal probe the following day.
“If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it’s hard not to pick Cassie,” Agnifilo said.
Cassie and Jane both testified during the trial that they were coerced repeatedly by Combs to perform in drug-fueled dayslong sex marathons with male sex workers while Combs watched, directed, masturbated and sometimes filmed the encounters.
If convicted, Combs could face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life.
He did not testify during the trial that is in its seventh week.
After Agnifilo completes his closing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey was expected to deliver a rebuttal summation before the judge reads the law to the jury, which is not expected to begin deliberations until Monday.