Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was once worth hundreds of millions of dollars but is now serving up to a life sentence in federal prison.
After decades of sexual assault allegations and acquittals on child pornography charges, the docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” gave a voice to his accusers and helped bring down the singer. Within six months of its broadcast, Kelly was facing federal trial in New York.
He was convicted not only of sex trafficking, but also of racketeering – charges that determined that a person's “enterprise” was being used to carry out criminal conduct.
Sean “Diddy” Combs now faces a similar federal investigation, although the charges against him are significantly different, and it remains unclear whether they will lead to criminal charges.
Authorities said little about the investigation. But law enforcement sources confirmed to the Times that Combs is under investigation on sex trafficking charges linked at least in part to civil lawsuits filed by several women who have accused him of misconduct.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have criticized the investigation as unwarranted.
After federal agents searched the artist's homes in Florida and Los Angeles several weeks ago, his lawyer denounced the “premature rush to judgment against Mr. Combs” and said the investigation was “nothing more than a witch hunt based on baseless accusations in civil lawsuits.” “.
However, previous high-profile sex trafficking cases can provide a window into how the feds typically build a case and can provide clues about what officials will need to bring charges.
“The playbook in these types of cases is R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein, Larry Ray, and NXIVM founder Keith Raniere,” said Elizabeth Geddes, who delivered the six-hour closing argument in Kelly's conviction.
In November, his ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, accused him of rape in a lawsuit. Within a day he settled down.
Since then, three more women have sued Combs, accusing him of rape, sex trafficking, assault and other abuse. One of the allegations involved a minor. A producer also filed a lawsuit against him for unwanted sexual contact.
Geddes, who was not involved in the Combs case, said she believes Ventura may have been the trigger for the federal investigation.
She said the docuseries about Kelly galvanized the Eastern District of New York into action, and that kind of high-profile investigation often requires an outside catalyst. In Kelly's case, he was acquitted in 2008, and as a result many of his accusers lost confidence in law enforcement. But the documentary re-engaged the authorities.
“Nothing puts pressure on law enforcement like a front-page story in a major city newspaper,” Geddes said.
The Combs investigation, led by the Department of Homeland Security, is several months old, according to sources, and several people associated with the case have already been interviewed — including defendants and alleged witnesses.
Homeland Security Investigations also handled Kelly's case, and its agents tend to have years of experience working with sex trafficking victims, Geddes said.
She said sex trafficking requires either “force, fraud or coercion to cause someone to engage in a commercial sex act” or the trafficking of minors under the age of 18.
“There is no statute of limitations,” Geddes said, and the main law enacted in the 2000s applies to acts from 2001 onward.
Geddes said that in addition to the sex charges against Kelly, she and her bandmates obtained a racketeering indictment against the singer. This charge has been applied to mob leaders such as John Gotti and James “Whitey” Bulger.
In racketeering cases, Geddes said, the “enterprise” is engaging in illegal behavior and prosecutors are seeking to show a broader pattern of behavior that extends over years and includes multiple participants. A racketeering case also allows for accounts from multiple victims in one trial.
Racketeering became a federal crime in 1970 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Over the years, its use has expanded. It is often used against gangs, from the Mexican Mafia to the Crips in South Los Angeles. Racketeering cases have also been filed against rappers associated with street gangs, including Young Thug, Kay Flock, Casanova, and Fetty Wap.
Federal prosecutors have succeeded in racketeering convictions not only against Kelly, but also against other sex traffickers, including NXIVM founder Raniere and Larry Ray, whose crimes are detailed in the documentary series Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence.
A law enforcement agent holds a bag of evidence as federal agents stand at the entrance to a property owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs in Miami on March 25.
(Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)
But it's unclear what evidence the feds have against Combs and whether there's enough to bring charges.
Few details are available, other than sources saying investigators left his home with electronics, data devices and other records.
Legal experts told The Times that the evidence in sex trafficking cases should be broad because such accusations can be difficult to prove.
“Adult sex trafficking usually involves some type of coercion or other restrictions,” Los Angeles defense attorney Dmitry Gorin said. Prosecutors will need to prove that you “encouraged someone to engage in sexual activity in exchange for money or other inducement.”
Aaron Dyer, one of Combs' attorneys, confirmed in a statement issued after the raids that “no criminal or civil liability has been found in any of these allegations.”
The mother of Combs' son Justin Dior Combs also criticized the investigation and raids.
“The excessive force and overt militarization used against my sons Justin and Christian is deplorable,” designer Misa Hilton said after posting a video showing federal agents dressed in military fatigues pointing a gun at Combs' sons. “If these were the children of a non-black celebrity, they would not have been treated with the same aggression. The attempt to humiliate and intimidate these innocent black youth is despicable!
Federal laws on sex trafficking and sexual assault also allow prosecutors to present evidence showing a modus operandi.
“In the R. Kelly trial, several women testified about what Kelly did to them as part of a pattern of behavior. It’s the same thing people saw in the Harvey Weinstein trial,” Geddes said.
If prosecutors file charges against Combs, they may also allege the use of forced labor under threat, Geddes said. Ventura, Combs' ex-girlfriend, claimed she was forced to have sex with other men and was physically harmed because of her complaints. If this is true, it could be considered forced labour, Geddes said.
Kelly was convicted of eight counts under the Mann Act, which passed in 1910 and sought to criminalize what is now known as human trafficking. The law initially prohibited the transfer of a woman or girl across state borders “for the purpose of prostitution, debauchery, or any other immoral purpose.”
The Mann Act now covers transportation across state lines.” [the] Intention that such person engages in prostitution, or any sexual activity for which a person could be charged with a criminal offence.
In the allegations against Combs, one woman said she was brought from Detroit when she was 17 to Combs' studios so he and his colleagues could rape her, Geddes said.
Before carrying out the highly publicized searches of Combs' property, prosecutors and DHS agents had to “make some progress in the investigation,” Geddes said.
“What we can say at this point is that there was sufficient probable cause to convince the judge to issue a search warrant,” she added. “Before obtaining such a warrant, agents typically interviewed numerous witnesses.”
These types of searches typically seek to strengthen evidence because high-profile individuals tend to work with others to commit such crimes, Geddes said. In Kelly's case, his storage facility proved to be a gold mine, Geddes said. He kept letter slips, handwritten notes and emails to pick up women and girls. She said there were “videos, lots of videos.”
“We had a lot of evidence presented in Kelly's case, and it was difficult to integrate it all into a conclusion,” Geddes said. “He used his money and public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight,” she told jurors at the time.
