Latest news with #RacketeerInfluencedandCorruptOrganizationsAct
New York Post
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Defunct NYC wine shop Sherry-Lehmann sues ex-owners, Pulitzer-winning NYT journalist over ‘press smear campaign'
Defunct New York City wine shop Sherry-Lehmann has filed a bizarre lawsuit that blames its spectacular implosion two years ago on its former owners — as well as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. The ill-fated vintner's current proprietors — who shuttered the posh Park Avenue store in March 2023 amid mounting customer complaints over missing wine orders — claim New York Times columnist James B. Stewart conspired with Sherry-Lehmann's former owners to create a 'press smear campaign' against the shop for their 'financial benefit and personal gain.' The suit claims the 73-year-old scribe — best known for his 1991 book 'Den of Thieves' about the Michael Milken insider trading scandal — also egged on law enforcement to raid Sherry-Lehmann, allegedly telling the US attorney for the Southern District of New York that the wine shop 'was the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.' 6 James B. Stewart is a Pulitzer-winning journalist for The New York times. Getty Images The suit goes on to make the claim that Stewart and three of the shop's former owners 'orchestrated' a series of 'false articles' in other publications — including the New York Post — that allegedly misrepresented Sherry-Lehmann to the public and to law enforcement. That, Sherry-Lehmann's owners alleged, amounts to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, according to the May 27 suit filed in Manhattan federal court. A spokesperson for The New York Times denied the RICO allegations, saying in a statement, 'There is no merit to the claims and we plan to defend against the suit vigorously.' In response to the allegations concerning The New York Post, a spokeswoman said in a statement, 'These allegations are absurd, and show a complete lack of understanding of how journalism works.' 6 Shyda Gilmer is a co-owner of Sherry-Lehmann. New York Post Sherry-Lehmann's complaint alleges that Peter Hellman, a reporter for the trade publication Wine Spectator, collaborated with Stewart 'in researching and writing their articles for Wine Spectator and The New York Times, with Hellman claiming to a representative for Sherry-Lehmann that he was the 'gumshoe reporter' for Stewart's article.' The suit also claims that Hellman tried to 'impersonate an HVAC repairman' to enter Sherry-Lehmann's temperature controlled Wine Caves facility in Pearl River, NY 'before he was escorted from the premises.' The complaint likewise alleges that Stewart allegedly 'impersonated a customer of Wine Caves (which Stewart never was)' to gather information for his article and that he allegedly told a Sherry-Lehman rep that 'this will win a Pulitzer Prize.' 6 A lawsuit filed on behalf of Kris Green (on the left) and Shyda Gilmer names New York Times columnist James B. Stewart as a Gotham Magazine Stewart has already won a Pulitzer — in 1987 for his coverage of the stock market crash when he was a writer for The Wall Street Journal. A source familiar with the lawsuit told The Post that Stewart and Hellman have never met. Stewart declined to comment. Hellman and Wine Spectator also declined to comment, citing 'pending litigation.' The lawsuit, filed on behalf of owners Kris Green and Shyda Gilmer, claims they missed out on a $20 million 'merger' offer from 'one of the largest vineyard owners in France' because of the negative press and that the former owners wanted to deep six the deal to sell the business, according to the complaint. 6 FBI agents raided the Park Avenue store in July 2023. James Keivom Gilmer and Green also claim the company was in the red long before they took over and blame the previous ownership's management for its woes. 'The co-conspirators…have engaged in a strategic, well-coordinated collaboration… to spread damaging false information about Sherry-Lehmann … with the sole intention of sabotaging its reputation and destroying its operations so they might profit,' according to the complaint. The suit singles out Stewart for a May 25, 2023, exposé in the Gray Lady entitled 'An Iconic Wine Store and the Mystery of the Missing Bottles' which reported that some of the wine belonging to storage customers was illegally sold to others. Sherry-Lehman denied this in its complaint. Sherry-Lehmann had been shuttered two months earlier after the State Liquor Authority issued a cease and desist order because the business had failed to renew its liquor license. 6 Sherry-Lehmann's landlord, Glorious Sun, is suing previous owners of the store for unpaid rent. James Keivom The nearly century-old, debt-ridden wine shop failed to pay its landlord, vendors and state taxes while also reportedly stiffing its customers out of wine they had paid for. A separate wine storage business – Wine Caves – went dark on customers who tried in vain get their booze back, as The Post reported. At the same time, the previous owners were dishing on Sherry-Lehmann's current owners, according to the lawsuit, because they wanted to be absolved of potential liability from the landlord who is owed millions of dollars. The previous owners, Michael Aaron, whose family founded Sherry-Lehman, Michael Yurch and Chris Adams are being sued in a separate lawsuit filed last year by Sherry-Lehmann's landlord Glorious Sun, which claims they are liable for the unpaid rent. Aaron, Adams and Yurch declined to comment on either of the lawsuits. 6 The store closed temporarily in March 2023 and never reopened. New York Post/Lisa Fickenscher The previous owners argue that they long ago severed ties with the business and have no stake in it, according to court documents. The final nail in the coffin for the business were multiple raids by the FBI, NYPD and US Postal Inspection Service on its store and wine storage facility in Pearl River, NY in July 2023. The 'unnecessary raids' in 2023 and as recently as 2024 resulted in canceled orders from customers, and potential acquirers, according to the complaint. But notably, there have been 'no indictments or arrests' as a result of these investigations, the suit claims. 'After withstanding [a] highly damaged reputation for over two years,' the lawsuit states, '[Sherry-Lehmann] can now finally come forward to tell the real story and to seek a remedy against all co-conspirators who profited from their misconduct, while fleecing Sherry-Lehmann in the process.' A US Postal Inspection Service spokesperson told The Post that its investigation of Sherry-Lehmann is 'active and ongoing.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Peoria teen ordered held in custody pending trial on racketeering charges
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — An alleged member of a notorious street gang was ordered held in custody Friday pending the outcome of his case. Kendal E. Patterson, 18, was indicted Tuesday for violating the state's anti-racketeering laws as well as aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, the latter charge alleged they possessed a loaded machine gun. He was initially scheduled to appear on Thursday, but his attorney asked for a delay of one day to prepare for the hearing, which is allowed under the state's SAFE-T Act. Two more alleged members of the 'Snakes' indicted for RICO violations Patterson is accused in connection with incidents on Feb. 24, 2023, in the 800 block of Gift Avenue, also in Peoria. His prosecution is part of an effort by the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office to combat street violence. Last fall, State's Attorney Jodi Hoos filed the RICO counts against 10 people under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act which alleges they were affiliated with the 'Snakes' street gang, which prosecutors said is linked to a 'rash of violence that has plagued the area.' At the time, six of the 10 were minors, and Hoos said she planned to ask a judge to transfer the case from the juvenile division to the adult division. Patterson's case was moved to adult court late last month. Of the other nine people, all their cases are still pending. Patterson's trial is set for early July. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Two more alleged members of the ‘Snakes' indicted for RICO violations
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Two Peoria teens were indicted Tuesday on charges they were part of a violent group that wreaked havoc on Peoria's streets. Amarii A. Smith-Holley, 17, and Kendal E. Patterson, 18, both were indicted for violating the state's anti-racketeering laws as well as aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, the latter charge alleged they possessed a loaded machine gun. Smtih-Holley faces five additional counts which include filing a false police report, aggravated battery with a firearm for a Feb. 20, 2023, shooting. He also faces a charge of aggravated discharge of a machine gun as well as two other weapons counts. Both face decades behind bars if convicted. And both are alleged to be members of the Snakes street gang. The Feb. 20, 2023, shooting occurred near the intersection of Hayes and Stanley streets in South Peoria. The aggravated discharge of a machine gun alleges Smith-Holley fired at a person on July 7, 2024, in the 2300 block of North Linn Street. Patterson is accused in connection with incidents on Feb. 24, 2023, in the 800 block of Gift Avenue, also in Peoria. Last fall, State's Attorney Jodi Hoos filed the RICO counts against 10 people under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act which alleges they were affiliated with the 'Snakes' street gang, which prosecutors said is linked to a 'rash of violence that has plagued the area.' At the time, six of the 10 were minors, and Hoos said she planned to ask a judge to transfer the case from the juvenile division to the adult division. Both Smith-Holley and Patterson were transferred out of juvenile court last month. RICO charges are normally seen in federal court and are products of federal investigations of organized crime. RICO counts often allege that people worked together to advance a criminal enterprise. The Snakes are a street gang in Peoria. It appears the group is not linked to any one area within the city limits, based on records from prior incidents and arrests. Among the incidents they have been linked to are a 2024 shooting at a post-prom party in Chillicothe that left one person with a gunshot wound to the head. Prosecutors allege the group is responsible or linked to at least three murders and 12 shootings. Of the other eight people, all their cases are still pending. Both men are scheduled to appear later this month to be arraigned on the charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Yahoo
What is the RICO Act and why is Sean Combs charged with violating it?
To build a criminal case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs, federal prosecutors are employing the legal weapon once used to take down the country's notorious organized crime families. In a sweeping indictment that accuses Combs of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, prosecutors allege the same business empire that nearly made Combs a billionaire also enabled him to illegally coerce women into sex and conceal his illicit conduct to protect his reputation. Combs has pleaded not guilty to every one of the five counts in the indictment: charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In dramatic fashion, his lawyers are arguing that Combs may well be a violent man – one who indulges in unconventional sexual conduct, abused illegal drugs and committed domestic violence – but he was not part of a broader criminal organization. MORE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates 'This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case,' Combs' attorney, Teny Geragos, told jurors in her opening statement. 'The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution.' Long removed from the days of using RICO to break the back of the Mafia, federal prosecutors in recent years have used RICO to target a diverse array of criminals: the R&B singer R. Kelly, convicted for sexually exploiting children; NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere, for sex trafficking; and Bill Hwang, the founder of a multi-billion-dollar investment firm now in prison for manipulating the financial markets. 'While it's typically been used to apply to in the past, to mob and street gangs, it can just as easily be used to apply to a totally otherwise legitimate business,' Rachel Maimin, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who led the largest gang prosecution in New York City history, said of the RICO statute. 'These are sort of more innovative, creative, broader uses of racketeering than we've seen before.' Statistics show that, in 2018-2022, federal prosecutors won convictions in more than 97% of the cases in which RICO was the most serious charge filed. For the jury of eight men and four women to convict Combs of racketeering conspiracy, they need to decide beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs knowingly worked with others to commit at least two underlying crimes – so-called 'predicate acts' – within 10 years of each other. MORE: Suge Knight speaks out about Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking case 'The prosecution has to prove this organization was an enterprise run by various people who had an agreement that they would engage in certain illegal behavior to further that enterprise, and they have to prove that there were various predicate acts that were committed,' said Michael Bachner, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Neither Bachner nor Maimin are involved in Combs' case. Even if Combs is the only person indicted as part of a broader criminal scheme, prosecutors can still argue that he relied on the help of others, such as personal assistants, bodyguards, and business associates. Some of the witnesses against Combs have testified in return for immunity from prosecutors or have spoken with federal authorities during 'proffer' sessions, during which the statements they make cannot be used to prosecute them. Before deliberations in the case begin, Judge Arun Subramanian will issue a 'jury charge,' instructing jurors on the law and how to think about it in reference to the facts that were brought out during the trial, which has already lasted a month. In RICO cases, juries are generally instructed that they need to believe the defendant willfully engaged in a criminal scheme by working with others to commit the two related crimes, Maiman said. In the indictment, a federal grand jury charged that Combs used his 'employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire' to commit crimes including kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, prostitution, and narcotics distribution. Prosecutors allege that Combs used his businesses – including his famed record label, Bad Boy Entertainment – to run a criminal organization that served to 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' 'The reason why they always did it with a mob and gangs is because they're very hierarchical,' said Maimin, explaining that Mafia families were notorious for crimes being committed by low-level street operators but at the direction of organization leaders like bosses or captains. 'But it makes sense to do a business like Diddy's business empire,' Maimin said, noting that the organized structure and hierarchy of Combs' business might help prosecutors demonstrate it could function like a criminal organization. According to prosecutors, the purpose of Combs' criminal enterprise was to not only secure his power and reputation as a musician and entrepreneur, but also to enable him and others in his orbit to commit crimes. They allege Combs and his associates 'wielded the power and prestige' of his business empire to 'intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs' world,' where he allegedly used threats and coercion to force them into sexual activities, like escapades with strangers and prostitutes and even sex assaults, and then to keep the women silent. MORE: A timeline of the highs and lows of Sean 'Diddy' Combs: From Grammys to legal trouble At the center of the prosecution's case are the elaborate days-long, drug-fueled sex sessions orchestrated by Combs, where he allegedly made women have sex with male prostitutes while he watched, forcing them to participate with drugs, violence and threats. According to witness testimony, Combs' employees were required to help purchase supplies for the event, hire sex workers and coordinate their travel arrangements, and clean up afterward to reduce the chances hotel workers or the public learned about his illicit activity. Former prosecutors told ABC News that charging a defendant with RICO generally gives authorities more flexibility in presenting testimony and evidence to the jury and more stringent prison sentences if a defendant is convicted. 'It is a statute that can encompass a very broad range of criminal activity, and that's why it's very appealing,' said Maimin. According to Bachner, use of RICO sometimes allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of conduct from long ago, tie together multiple criminal acts if they all were connected to a similar purpose, and stiffen potential sentences for defendants. RICO carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years to life, depending on the underlying predicate act. The flexibility of the law sometimes gives prosecutors additional leverage to encourage witnesses to cooperate in their investigation, though the RICO statute does not rely on multiple co-conspirators being charged together. 'You don't have to charge every conspirator, you just have to prove that there was another conspirator,' Bachner said. 'It's not required under the RICO statute that there has to be other named defendants, just at least one other person with a guilty mind.' With jurors so far seeing more than 20 witnesses, they have started to hear about bits and pieces of the alleged broader criminal enterprise that prosecutors described in their opening statement. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy, or Diddy – a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life. But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise,' prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors at the start. 'During this trial, you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up.' Jurors have so far heard testimony about five potential predicate crimes – including allegations of sex trafficking, arson, bribery, distribution of narcotics, and kidnapping – that prosecutors might use to try to convince the jury to convict on the racketeering charge. MORE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs rejects plea deal ahead of sex trafficking trial Combs' former assistant, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs and his bodyguard 'kidnapped' her in an attempt to confront and threaten to 'kill' rival rapper Kid Cudi because he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend. Kid Cudi – whose legal name is Scott Mescudi – also told jurors how he suspected Combs orchestrated the firebombing of his luxury sports car in an act of arson that Combs intended to send a message. 'Sean wanted Scott's friends to be there to see the car get blown up in the driveway,' Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, told the jury. After Combs assaulted Ventura, following what she told jurors was a 'freak-off' sex session in an LA hotel in 2016, a security guard who responded to the incident testified that Combs offered him money to stay silent about the incident, an act prosecutors may use try to prove Combs committed bribery. The security guard testified that he did not take the money. Another hotel employee, Eddy Garcia, testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors that Combs and his associates paid him $100,000 for the video footage capturing the assault. Multiple witnesses also told the jury about the process for setting up the "freak-offs," among them personal assistants who said they were sent to purchase illegal drugs for Combs, as well as Ventura, the prosecution's star witness, who testified she coordinated sex workers' travel across state lines so they could participate in the orgies. 'No one witness gives all the evidence to meet every element of every crime,' said Maimin, who clarified that the prosecution's case is like a puzzle now being assembled for the jury. 'People are impatient to hear everything all at once.' Trial experts say the jury might have begun linking together the evidence and testimony that prosecutors say formed a criminal enterprise, as Combs lawyers have tried to cast doubt on allegations central to the case. 'You're seeing now witness after witness come forward talking about his employees assisting in this,' ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said on "Good Morning America" on Monday. 'Now you have the enterprise – the enterprise is the people working for him doing the things he's telling them to do. And then you have potential crime after crime after crime that's being alleged, everything from kidnapping and arson, to extortion.'
05-06-2025
What is the RICO Act and why is Sean Combs charged with violating it?
To build a criminal case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs, federal prosecutors are employing the legal weapon once used to take down the country's notorious organized crime families. In a sweeping indictment that accuses Combs of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, prosecutors allege the same business empire that nearly made Combs a billionaire also enabled him to illegally coerce women into sex and conceal his illicit conduct to protect his reputation. Combs has pleaded not guilty to every one of the five counts in the indictment: charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In dramatic fashion, his lawyers are arguing that Combs may well be a violent man – one who indulges in unconventional sexual conduct, abused illegal drugs and committed domestic violence – but he was not part of a broader criminal organization. 'This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case,' Combs' attorney, Teny Geragos, told jurors in her opening statement. 'The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution.' Long removed from the days of using RICO to break the back of the Mafia, federal prosecutors in recent years have used RICO to target a diverse array of criminals: the R&B singer R. Kelly, convicted for sexually exploiting children; NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere, for sex trafficking; and Bill Hwang, the founder of a multi-billion-dollar investment firm now in prison for manipulating the financial markets. 'While it's typically been used to apply to in the past, to mob and street gangs, it can just as easily be used to apply to a totally otherwise legitimate business,' Rachel Maimin, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who led the largest gang prosecution in New York City history, said of the RICO statute. 'These are sort of more innovative, creative, broader uses of racketeering than we've seen before.' Statistics show that, in 2018-2022, federal prosecutors won convictions in more than 97% of the cases in which RICO was the most serious charge filed. What does it take to prove Combs engaged in a criminal enterprise? For the jury of eight men and four women to convict Combs of racketeering conspiracy, they need to decide beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs knowingly worked with others to commit at least two underlying crimes – so-called 'predicate acts' – within 10 years of each other. 'The prosecution has to prove this organization was an enterprise run by various people who had an agreement that they would engage in certain illegal behavior to further that enterprise, and they have to prove that there were various predicate acts that were committed,' said Michael Bachner, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Neither Bachner nor Maimin are involved in Combs' case. Even if Combs is the only person indicted as part of a broader criminal scheme, prosecutors can still argue that he relied on the help of others, such as personal assistants, bodyguards, and business associates. Some of the witnesses against Combs have testified in return for immunity from prosecutors or have spoken with federal authorities during 'proffer' sessions, during which the statements they make cannot be used to prosecute them. Before deliberations in the case begin, Judge Arun Subramanian will issue a 'jury charge,' instructing jurors on the law and how to think about it in reference to the facts that were brought out during the trial, which has already lasted a month. In RICO cases, juries are generally instructed that they need to believe the defendant willfully engaged in a criminal scheme by working with others to commit the two related crimes, Maiman said. What do prosecutors allege Combs did? In the indictment, a federal grand jury charged that Combs used his 'employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire' to commit crimes including kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, prostitution, and narcotics distribution. Prosecutors allege that Combs used his businesses – including his famed record label, Bad Boy Entertainment – to run a criminal organization that served to 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' 'The reason why they always did it with a mob and gangs is because they're very hierarchical,' said Maimin, explaining that Mafia families were notorious for crimes being committed by low-level street operators but at the direction of organization leaders like bosses or captains. 'But it makes sense to do a business like Diddy's business empire,' Maimin said, noting that the organized structure and hierarchy of Combs' business might help prosecutors demonstrate it could function like a criminal organization. According to prosecutors, the purpose of Combs' criminal enterprise was to not only secure his power and reputation as a musician and entrepreneur, but also to enable him and others in his orbit to commit crimes. They allege Combs and his associates 'wielded the power and prestige' of his business empire to 'intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs' world,' where he allegedly used threats and coercion to force them into sexual activities, like escapades with strangers and prostitutes and even sex assaults, and then to keep the women silent. At the center of the prosecution's case are the elaborate days-long, drug-fueled sex sessions orchestrated by Combs, where he allegedly made women have sex with male prostitutes while he watched, forcing them to participate with drugs, violence and threats. According to witness testimony, Combs' employees were required to help purchase supplies for the event, hire sex workers and coordinate their travel arrangements, and clean up afterward to reduce the chances hotel workers or the public learned about his illicit activity. What benefit does charging RICO give prosecutors? Former prosecutors told ABC News that charging a defendant with RICO generally gives authorities more flexibility in presenting testimony and evidence to the jury and more stringent prison sentences if a defendant is convicted. 'It is a statute that can encompass a very broad range of criminal activity, and that's why it's very appealing,' said Maimin. According to Bachner, use of RICO sometimes allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of conduct from long ago, tie together multiple criminal acts if they all were connected to a similar purpose, and stiffen potential sentences for defendants. RICO carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years to life, depending on the underlying predicate act. The flexibility of the law sometimes gives prosecutors additional leverage to encourage witnesses to cooperate in their investigation, though the RICO statute does not rely on multiple co-conspirators being charged together. 'You don't have to charge every conspirator, you just have to prove that there was another conspirator,' Bachner said. 'It's not required under the RICO statute that there has to be other named defendants, just at least one other person with a guilty mind.' What have witnesses said so far to help the government's case? With jurors so far seeing more than 20 witnesses, they have started to hear about bits and pieces of the alleged broader criminal enterprise that prosecutors described in their opening statement. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy, or Diddy – a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life. But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise,' prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors at the start. 'During this trial, you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up.' Jurors have so far heard testimony about five potential predicate crimes – including allegations of sex trafficking, arson, bribery, distribution of narcotics, and kidnapping – that prosecutors might use to try to convince the jury to convict on the racketeering charge. Combs' former assistant, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs and his bodyguard 'kidnapped' her in an attempt to confront and threaten to 'kill' rival rapper Kid Cudi because he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend. Kid Cudi – whose legal name is Scott Mescudi – also told jurors how he suspected Combs orchestrated the firebombing of his luxury sports car in an act of arson that Combs intended to send a message. 'Sean wanted Scott's friends to be there to see the car get blown up in the driveway,' Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, told the jury. After Combs assaulted Ventura, following what she told jurors was a 'freak-off' sex session in an LA hotel in 2016, a security guard who responded to the incident testified that Combs offered him money to stay silent about the incident, an act prosecutors may use try to prove Combs committed bribery. The security guard testified that he did not take the money. Another hotel employee, Eddy Garcia, testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors that Combs and his associates paid him $100,000 for the video footage capturing the assault. Multiple witnesses also told the jury about the process for setting up the "freak-offs," among them personal assistants who said they were sent to purchase illegal drugs for Combs, as well as Ventura, the prosecution's star witness, who testified she coordinated sex workers' travel across state lines so they could participate in the orgies. 'No one witness gives all the evidence to meet every element of every crime,' said Maimin, who clarified that the prosecution's case is like a puzzle now being assembled for the jury. 'People are impatient to hear everything all at once.' Trial experts say the jury might have begun linking together the evidence and testimony that prosecutors say formed a criminal enterprise, as Combs lawyers have tried to cast doubt on allegations central to the case. 'You're seeing now witness after witness come forward talking about his employees assisting in this,' ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said on "Good Morning America" on Monday. 'Now you have the enterprise – the enterprise is the people working for him doing the things he's telling them to do. And then you have potential crime after crime after crime that's being alleged, everything from kidnapping and arson, to extortion.'
