Beyond The Horizon
ICYMI: Diddy And The Perilous Road He Now Finds Himself On
Human trafficking is a serious crime and violation of human rights in the United States, and federal laws have been enacted to combat it including:
- Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA): Enacted in 2000 and subsequently reauthorized, the TVPA is the cornerstone of anti-trafficking legislation in the United States. It defines trafficking in persons and establishes various means to combat it, including prevention, prosecution, and protection for victims.
- Federal Laws: There are several federal statutes specifically targeting human trafficking:
- 18 U.S. Code § 1581-1595 (Peonage, Slavery, and Trafficking in Persons): This section of the U.S. Code addresses various forms of human trafficking, including forced labor, involuntary servitude, and sex trafficking. It outlines criminal penalties for offenders.
- 18 U.S. Code § 2421-2429 (Transportation for Illegal Sexual Activity and Related Crimes): These statutes criminalize transportation for illicit sexual activity, including transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution or other unlawful sexual activities.
- 18 U.S. Code § 1951 (Interference with Commerce by Threats or Violence): This law, commonly known as the Hobbs Act, prohibits robbery and extortion that affects interstate commerce. It can be applied in cases where trafficking involves coercion or extortion.
- Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTVPA): Passed in 2000 as part of the TVPA, the VTVPA enhances protections and assistance for victims of trafficking. It establishes the "T Visa" for victims of severe forms of trafficking who cooperate with law enforcement, allowing them to stay and work temporarily in the United States.
- Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): CAPTA, initially enacted in 1974 and reauthorized several times, requires states to have laws and policies in place to address child abuse and neglect. This includes provisions specific to child victims of trafficking.
- International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA): Enacted in 2005, IMBRA regulates international marriage brokers and requires them to conduct background checks on U.S. clients and disclose certain information to foreign national clients.
- Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA): Passed in 2015, JVTA strengthens existing anti-trafficking laws and enhances support for victims. It expands law enforcement tools, increases victim restitution, and provides additional resources for prevention and victim services.
- Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE): ICE plays a crucial role in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases, particularly those involving international borders. It works in collaboration with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Using these laws and cases like the R. Kelly case as precedent, the prosecutors have a roadmap on how to get to the finish line when it comes to these kinds of RICO/Human Trafficking cases.
The question is, do they have the evidence?
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to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
Sean 'Diddy' Combs and what it takes to build a sex-trafficking case - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
- Duration:
- 20m
- Broadcast on:
- 26 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) - Well, we got a minute and I'm gonna buy that truck I've been wanting. - Wait, don't you need like weeks to shop for a car? - I don't. Carvana makes it super convenient to find exactly what I want. - Hold up. You're buying a car on your phone? Isn't that more of a laptop thing? - You can shop wherever you want. - I like to do my research. Read reviews, compare models. Plus, Carvana has thousands of options. How'd you decide on that truck? - Because I like it. - Oh, that is a great reason. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. - Okay, you can do this. - I know, I know. Carvana makes it so convenient to sell your car. It's just hard to let go. My car and I have been through so much together. - But look, you already have a great offer from Carvana. That was fast. - Well, I know my lessons played in my heart and those questions were easy. - You're almost there. Now to just accept the offer and schedule a pick up or drop off. - How'd you do it? How were you so strong in letting go of your car? - Well, I already made up my mind and Carvana is so easy. - Yeah, yeah, true. - And sold. - Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. - What's up, everyone? And welcome back to the program. As the situation with Diddy continues to evolve, there's still a lot of questions about where this is all going to go and how it's all going to end up. Are the feds going to end up hitting Diddy with Rico charges? Or are they going to determine after they do their investigation that there's nothing here? But if they do decide to charge Diddy, they have a blueprint already that they can use if they so desire. And that blueprint is the same one that they used against R. Kelly. Remember, R. Kelly wasn't arrested and convicted for just human trafficking. They busted his ass with Rico charges on top of it. So when you get hit with Rico charges, it's pretty much a wrap for you. The second you get nailed with Rico predicates, there's basically no defense for it. You're not going to have the money to defend yourself. You're not going to be able to bring in all the experts that you need to bring in, unless of course you're somebody like Diddy. But even when you're R. Kelly, look at how burdensome it was for him. Or look at people in the mafia. Or El Chapo. El Chapo, one of the most powerful men in the world, was reduced to basically a bystander during his own trial. And that's because of the Rico predicates. They are the strongest tool in the toolbox of the federal government. And when they start breaking out Rico charges against you, shit has certainly gotten real. So that's really the question that I have right now. Is this going to turn into a Rico case? Or are the feds gonna take a look at what they have here and decide that this isn't something that they're going to pursue? Unfortunately for us, we don't know one way or the other yet. The feds have been pretty quiet about what's going on. And nobody has come out and confirmed or denied anything from an official standpoint. We've gotten information from sources, but not from an official news conference or something like that. So today we have an article from the LA Times. And it's talking about R. Kelly being convicted of sex trafficking and how his case could be a blueprint for the prosecutors if they choose to charge Diddy. Headline, R. Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking. Is his case a roadmap for Sean Diddy Combs probe? This article was authored by Richard Wynton. Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was once worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but is now serving what amounts to a life sentence in federal prison. And for me, there's no doubt that R. Kelly should have been hit with human trafficking charges. No doubt about it and Rico. But the real question everybody should have is all these Rico cases all over the place, how come Elaine Maxwell wasn't hit with Rico? How come Jeffrey Epstein wasn't hit with Rico? And when you understand what the law is and what it's used for, there isn't a more perfectly suited situation than Epstein and Maxwell for a Rico case, but somehow they avoided it. And you know how that somehow is? Well, they have political friends folks. They were being protected. R. Kelly might have had a bunch of dough, but he wasn't having dinner with the head of the CIA or an ex-president. So having money is one thing. Having wealth and influence is completely something different. And R. Kelly, P. Diddy, these kinds of folks, sure they have money, but they're not being protected by the three letter agencies. And unless you have that sort of protection, you're cooked. And that's the biggest difference between Jeffrey Epstein and all the rest of these human traffickers. Bro was being protected by on high. Now, there's a lot of people out there that'll tell you a bunch of bullshit and act like they know who was protecting Epstein, but the fact is we don't know. The dude was an intelligence asset. The question is, who was his handler? And who was he feeding information to? But whoever those people were, that he was feeding that information to, they wanted to make sure that he was protected. And even more so than him being protected, they wanted to make sure that their secrets were protected. So that's why we never saw Rico with Epstein. Here, different matter entirely, right? None of these people are worried about being exposed. I know you have people out there talking about, oh, Diddy's house was raided because they're trying to get information about, no, that's not the case. Diddy's not that powerful, folks. I hate to take a break into you. He's not that kind of dude. He has the money, right? He has influence in his circles, but he's not influencing people who are really pulling the levers of power. He's not influencing the financial sector. His enablers might have been the record labels. Jeffrey Epstein's enablers were the biggest banks in the world, the richest people in the world, the smartest people in the world. So those people can never get caught up in this bullshit, right? That just never happens to people like that. So that's why Epstein was never hit with Rico. But R. Kelly, P. Diddy, they're not gonna be so lucky, folks. After decades of sex abuse allegations and an acquittal on child pornography charges, a documentary series titled "Surviving R. Kelly" finally gave his accusers a voice and helped bring down the singer. Within six months of its airing, Kelly was facing federal prosecution in New York. He was convicted not only of sex trafficking, but also of racketeering, charges that specify a person's enterprise was used to carry out criminal conduct. Sean Diddy Combs now faces similar federal investigation, though the accusations against him are significantly different and it remains unclear whether they will result in criminal charges. And there's no doubt we're not at that point yet. There's a whole lot of ground to cover here still. And we have to keep in mind that these are only allegations against Diddy at this point. Now it's not looking good, right? All these different allegations, getting your pad rated, none of that looks good and the optics are terrible, but that doesn't make them guilty. So we have to always keep that in mind. And we have to see where all of this goes. But as of now, it's not looking good for Diddy and the more people who come forward and the more people who go on record about being abused or allegedly being abused, the worse it's gonna become. Authorities have said little about the probe, but law enforcement sources have confirmed to the times that Combs is under investigation for sex trafficking tied at least in part to civil lawsuits filed by several women who have accused him of misconduct. Combs is denied any wrongdoing and his attorneys have slammed the investigation as unwarranted. After federal agents search the artist's home in Florida and Los Angeles several weeks ago, his attorney decried a premature rush to judgment of Mr Combs and said the investigation is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. Hey, look, we don't know the scoop yet, okay? What we do know is that there's a lot of allegations out there and there's a lot of women who have the same story about Diddy and what was going on. And on the flip side of that, we've also heard from Diddy's lawyers and the lawyers for UMG and the rest of the people accused and they say that none of this happened. So yeah, I would think that a federal investigation is the only way to figure out what's what here, right? You have two different sides, two different narratives. There's only one truth. Still, previous high profile sex trafficking cases could offer a window into how the feds typically build a case and could provide clues into what officials would need to bring charges. The playbook for these types of cases is R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein, Larry Ray and Nexium's founder, Keith Rainery, Elizabeth Gettis, who delivered a six hour closing argument in Kelly's conviction. Not Jeffrey Epstein, don't put him up there. He's the only one that didn't get recode. So what are you even talking about here? It really bothers me when they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to Epstein and unfortunately, it's a vast majority of people out there. All those other people she just mentioned, R. Kelly, Keith Rainery, Larry Ray, they all got hit with Rico, folks, not Epstein. So just keep that in mind. In November, Combs, former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, accused him in a lawsuit of rape and within a day he settled. Since then, three other women have sued Combs, accusing him of rape, sex trafficking, assault and other abuses. One of the allegations involved a minor. A male producer has also sued him over unwanted sexual contact. Gettis, who is not involved in the Combs case, said she believes Ventura might have been the trigger for the federal investigation. A lot of times that's how it works. You have people, they file a civil case and before you know it, the prosecutors are digging into that civil complaint looking for criminal issues. And my guess is there was a lot of that being played out here when it comes to Diddy. She said that the docu-series about Kelly spurred the Eastern District of New York to act and that type of high-level investigation often requires an outside catalyst. In Kelly's case, he had been acquitted in 2008 and as a result, many of his accusers lost confidence in law enforcement. But the documentary re-engaged the authorities. And that's kind of like what happened with Epstein. You had Julie K Brown, she came out with her piece, going after Epstein, all because Alex Acosta was in his position, but the end result was what it was. And the end result was positive. But the whole reason that Julie K Brown dove into it was because of the Alex Acosta connection. But it was that story that re-ignited the Fed's interest and what was going on. That's a whole different conversation, however. Imagine the Fed's need a journalist to re-ignite their passion to go after a human trafficker. I guess they're too busy. Maybe they're too busy checking your email to go after human traffickers. Nothing puts pressure on law enforcement like a front-page story on the major newspaper in the city, get it said. Com's investigation, led by Homeland Security, is several months old according to sources and many connected to the case, including accusers and the ledge witnesses have already been interviewed. And that's what I was talking about previously. When you get to a point where somebody like Diddy's house is being raided, they're already far along in their investigation. Does that mean they have anything concrete? No, it doesn't. But it does mean they've done their investigations and they have that probable cause. - Did I hear you're shopping for a car? 'Cause I've been at it for ages, such a time suck, right? - Not really. 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VGW Group void were prohibited by law, 18 plus terms of condition supply. - Get a set Homeland Security Investigations, also work the Kelly case and its agents tend to have years of experience working with sex trafficking victims. She said sex trafficking requires either force, fraud, or coercion to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act or the trafficking of minors under 18. Also, just to add, if you transport anyone across state lines for the purpose of sexual trafficking, you're also gonna get nailed with the man act. So that's another charge that probably will come Diddy's way if any charges do get slapped on him. There are no statute of limitations, Geta said. And the key law enacted in the 2000s applies to acts from 2001 forward. Geta said that in addition to the sex trafficking against Kelly, she and her colleagues secured a racketeering indictment against the singer. The charge has famously been applied to mob bosses like John Gotti and James Whitey Bulger. In racketeering cases, Geta said, the enterprise carries out illegal conduct and prosecutor seek to show a broader pattern of conduct that stretches over years and involves many participants. A racketeering case also allows multiple victim narratives in one trial. Racketeering became a federal crime in 1970 under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO. It was created to go after the mafia and they used it perfectly. Without the RICO laws, the mafia would still be running shit. You can count on that. Over the years, its usage has expanded. It's often used against gangs ranging from the Mexican mafia to South L.A.'s Crips. Racketeering cases also have been brought against rappers associated with street gangs, including Young Thug, Kay Flock, Casanova, and Fetty Watt. Federal prosecutors have succeeded in racketeering convictions not only against Kelly but also against other sex traffickers, including Nexium founder Rainery and Larry Ray, whose crimes were outlined in the docu-series Stolen Youth Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence. And we covered that sick bastard too. Another degenerate. Another one of these disgusting degenerates. But it's unclear what evidence the feds have against combs and whether there is enough to bring charges. Well, if they could bring charges, they would have done so already. So they probably don't have enough yet. Legal experts have told the times that evidence in sex trafficking cases must be extensive, as such charges can be hard to prove. 1,000%. This is a very extensive and long road that they're traveling. Sex trafficking for adults usually involve some sort of coercion or other restraints. L.A. defense attorney, Dimitri Gorin said, "Prosecutors we need to show you encourage somebody to engage in sexual activity for money or some other inducement." Aaron Dyer, one of Combs lawyers, stressed in a statement released after the raids, "There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations." The mother of Combs son Justin Dior also slammed the investigation and the raids. The overzealous and overtly militarized force used against my sons Justin and Christian is deplorable. Designer Misa Hilton said, "After releasing a video showing federal agents dressed in military gear, pointing a gun at Combs sons. If these were the sons of a non-black celebrity, they would not have been handled with the same aggression. The attempt to humiliate and terrorize these innocent young black men is despicable. Well, I'd like to invite you over to an Italian's house when they're getting raided. 'Cause I can promise you, everybody's handled the same way. And if you need a source, well, I can tell you from personal experience. Federal sex trafficking and sexual assault laws allow prosecutors to present evidence that shows an M.O." In the R. Kelly trial, several women testified about what Kelly did to them as part of a pattern of behavior. It's very much the same thing. People saw in Harvey Weinstein's prosecution, Geddes said, "If prosecutors do file charges against Combs, they could also allege the use of forced labor under threat," Geddes said. Ventura Combs's former girlfriend alleged she was forced into sex acts with other men and suffered physical harm for complaining. "If true, this could be considered forced labor," Geddes said. Kelly was convicted with eight counts of the Man Act, which was passed in 1910 and sought to criminalize what's now known as human trafficking. The law initially banned transporting a woman or girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery or for any other immoral purpose. The Man Act now covers transportation across state lines with the intent that such individual engages in prostitution or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense. And this is something that Puffy's gonna have to really be cautious of. The Man Act is something that, more than likely, they're gonna hit 'em with. If they go for charges, more than likely, the Man Act is on its way. In the allegations against Combs, one woman said she was brought from Detroit as a 17-year-old to Combs Studios so he could rape her along with his cohorts, Geddes said, before the highly publicized searches of Combs properties were executed, Geddes said prosecutors and HSI agents had to have made some headway in the investigations. What we can say at this stage is there was enough probable cause to convince a magistrate to issue a search warrant, she said. Before getting a search warrant, agents have typically interviewed multiple witnesses. Yeah, so they did their due diligence, right? They did the pre-work here to get themselves a probable cause warrant. So whatever they showed, the judge was enough. Now what they showed 'em, we have no idea. Geddes said that these types of searches typically seek corroboration of evidence because high-profile individuals tend to work with others to commit such crimes. In Kelly's case, Geddes said his storage facility proved to be a goal-mind. He kept message slips, handwritten notations, and emails to pick up women and girls, and there were videos, lots of videos. She said, "We had so much evidence presented in Kelly. "It was hard to fit it all into the closing," Geddes said. He used his money in public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight. She told jurors at the time. So look, there's no doubt that Geddes in jeopardy here. The question is, how far is this investigation progressed and how much do they have? Unfortunately for us, we just don't know yet. The good news is we're gonna continue to plug along until we get to a point where we have some clarity. But one thing's for sure, this is just the very beginning. All right, folks, that's gonna do it for this one. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box. - Hey, it is Ryan Seacrest. There's something so thrilling about playing Chumba Casino. Maybe it's the simple reminder that with a little luck, anything is possible. Chumbak Casino.com has hundreds of social casino-style games to choose from with new game releases each week. Play for free anytime, anywhere, for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Join me in the fun. Sign up now at chumbakassino.com. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply.