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7th August 2025 11:43:33 AM
5 mins readBy: Amanda Cartey
A member of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ all-star defense team, Nicole Westmoreland has revealed that the music mogul’s team has reached out to the Trump administration about a potential pardon.
This follows Diddy’s conviction on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution last month.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” Westmoreland said in an exclusive interview with CNN on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, President Trump already indicated in an interview with Newsmax last week that there was no probability of pardoning "Diddy."
“I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.”
Adding that, this makes it “more difficult to do.”
Nonetheless, Diddy's Attorney says, her client “is a very hopeful person, and I believe that he remains hopeful.”
Combs has been judged not guilty of sex trafficking and being part of a criminal gang by a U.S. jury.
However, he was found guilty of bringing women across state lines for prostitution.
The verdict came on Tuesday, July 2, in New York after a high-profile trial that started in May.
The jury spent three days and over 13 hours discussing the case before agreeing on all five charges.
The jury found Combs not guilty of being part of a criminal group (racketeering) and not guilty of sex trafficking singer, Cassie Ventura.
However, he was found guilty of transporting Cassie and other women for ptrostitution.
He was also cleared of sex trafficking another woman referred to as "Jane," but was found guilty of transporting her and others for prostitution.
The charges came from the testimonies of Cassie and Jane, both of whom had romantic relationships with Combs.
They spoke in Court about being taken to hotels where Combs allegedly arranged for other men to have sex with them while he watched, filmed or gave directions, calling these events "freak-offs" or "hotel nights."
Before the verdict was announced, Combs was seen praying with his children and hugging his lawyers.
In the room where many were watching, emotions were high and people reacted audibly as each decision was read, even though the judge had asked for silence.
Combs has been in jail since his arrest in September 2024.
Although he was cleared of the most serious charges, his lawyers believe the guilty verdicts shouldn't stop him from being granted bail.
Defence attorney and former prosecutor Neama Rahmani has described the sex-trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs as the “most expensive prostitution trial in American history.
He made these comments during an interview with The New York Post, just before the jury delivered its verdict on Wednesday, July 2, in Manhattan federal court.
The court ruled that Diddy was not guilty of charges that accused him of forcing his ex-partners to take part in humiliating sexual acts as well as racketeering.
However, he was still found guilty of less serious prostitution-related charges.
According to him, Rahmani said that since the court didn't find the person guilty of the more serious crime (racketeering), the whole case seemed like an expensive effort just to punish less serious crimes.
“As I’ve said all along, this case will come down to racketeering,” Rahmani said as jurors were still weighing the case against the disgraced hip-hop mogul.
“If the government doesn’t get a RICO conviction, this will be a huge loss and the most expensive prostitution trial in American history.”
Rahmani had speculated that if the feds ultimately didn’t secure a guilty verdict on the racketeering count, the case would only boil down to two prostitution charges.
Also, before the verdict, he predicted that it would be difficult to prove the sex trafficking charges against Diddy because his defence attorneys took advantage of a barrage of text messages from the rapper's alleged victims and accusers.
Some whose messages suggested their keenness to participate in “freak-offs” i.e. sex marathons with male prostitutes.
He predicted, too, the outcome of the jury’s verdict.
“What a tremendous loss for the prosecution. And a huge win for the defence,” Rahmani said just moments after the verdict was handed down.
The Bad Boy Records founder was ultimately found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and was acquitted on two sex trafficking charges and one racketeering charge.
The mixed result, which came on the third day of deliberations, capped a two-month trial that revealed twisted details about the mogul, including his insatiable taste for the “freak-offs.”
The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts mean he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Combs now faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence on each of the two prostitution counts.
The judge will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date and will decide later Wednesday whether he can walk free until then.
The beginning of Diddy's legal woes
Diddy's legal troubles began when his former decade-long girlfriend Cassie Ventura, filed a sued him for rape, physical abuse, and sex trafficking during their relationship.
In the suit, she noted that the rapper coerced her into partaking in drug-induced sexual encounters with male escorts—some of which he filmed—and claimed he once threatened to blow up rapper Kid Cudi’s car after she moved on with him.
The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily allowed survivors to sue regardless of when the abuse occurred.
Shockingly, the case was settled just one day later for an undisclosed amount.
But that opened the floodgates of many other lawsuits against the rapper. After several months of investigations, Diddy was arrested on September 16, 2024, at a New York City hotel by federal agents acting on a sealed indictment.
“What a tremendous loss for the prosecution. And a huge win for the defence,” Rahmani said just moments after the verdict was handed down.
The Bad Boy Records founder was ultimately found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and was acquitted on two sex trafficking charges and one racketeering charge.
The mixed result, which came on the third day of deliberations, capped a two-month trial that revealed twisted details about the mogul, including his insatiable taste for the “freak-offs.”
The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts mean he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Combs now faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence on each of the two prostitution counts.
The judge will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date and will decide later Wednesday whether he can walk free until then.
The beginning of Diddy's legal woes
Diddy's legal troubles began when his former decade-long girlfriend Cassie Ventura, filed a sued him for rape, physical abuse, and sex trafficking during their relationship.
In the suit, she noted that the rapper coerced her into partaking in drug-induced sexual encounters with male escorts—some of which he filmed—and claimed he once threatened to blow up rapper Kid Cudi’s car after she moved on with him.
The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily allowed survivors to sue regardless of when the abuse occurred.
Shockingly, the case was settled just one day later for an undisclosed amount.
But that opened the floodgates of many other lawsuits against the rapper. After several months of investigations, Diddy was arrested on September 16, 2024, at a New York City hotel by federal agents acting on a sealed indictment.
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