State Champ Radio Crime and Punishment
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On Monday (June 16), jurors in the criminal trial against Diddy had an unorthodox respite from the usual witness testimony and evidence presentation, as they got to view portions of the videotapes of the sex parties that Diddy threw. Prosecutors for the federal government showed the jurors the footage of the alleged “freak offs” as they questioned a special agent for the Department of Justice on the witness stand.According to the New York Times, the footage jurors viewed was from 2012 and 2014, and involved Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, Diddy’s former partner. The jurors viewed the footage while in the courtoom, wearing headphones as they looked at screens with privacy guards attached. One young juror was reported to have giggled audibly as the clips, 30 seconds in length, were first displayed. The remaining jurors were silent, with some wincing at what they saw and one snatching the headphones off after the first clip was done. According to TMZ, some of the audio from the video clips could be faintly heard as the courtroom went silent.Prior to the viewing of the videos, prosecutors presented a bevy of text and audio messages which involved Kristina Khorram, Diddy’s former chief of staff directing assistants to have luxury hotel rooms furnished with supplies for the “freak-offs”(which were also dubbed “wild king nights” and “hotel nights”). The messages are part of the prosecution’s case to prove that these assistants helped facilitate the sex trafficking run by Diddy, aka Sean Combs. Khorram has not publicly testified, but her phone was seized by the government last year.The jurors’ viewing of the clips came after the morning session, where Judge Arun Subramanian replaced Juror No. 6 citing that he was inconsistent about his place of residence, noting that it led him to believe that he was “shading answers” to get on the jury and stay on. “There’s nothing that the juror could say at this point that would put the genie back in the bottle,” Judge Subramanian stated after Diddy’s lawyers protested the move.
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Life for Bryshere Y. Gray after Empire could’ve been an episode of Empire.
The show, which ran for six seasons, ended in 2020. In May 2020, Gray was sued by his landlord for more than $26,000 in damages to his property.
Later that same year Gray, who played Hakeem Lyon, was arrested in Arizona for allegedly abusing his wife. Gray’s wife, who had visible bruises, flagged down a passerby to get help. She claimed that Gray strangled her and was taken to the hospital for help. Gray refused to leave his home. SWAT and crisis negotiators responded. Gray eventually left without incident. In May 2021, Gray received a 10-day jail sentence and three years of probation for the altercation.
In November 2022, he violated probation and faced abuse charges against a different woman.
Gray, 31, has now been charged with assault and battery in Virginia, according to news station WAVY. Chesapeake police told the news station that Gray was not arrested as the charge was taken out by a citizen. Court documents viewed by TMZ claim that Gray was working with a man named Dustin Wilkins, who goes by the name Chosen Wilkins. Wilkins claims that after an argument over money Gray charged him and the two men began fighting.
“As I was explaining to him that he can’t just leave without paying, adding you have enough problems,” Wilkins said in court documents. “ …I am trying to save your life. He then charged towards me from around the car. Charged into me with his shoulder…and fighting me as I was recording the incident over the phone…a blunt blow into me and punching me.”
The incident occured on Friday afternoon at Homewood Suites, but charges were not filed until Sunday.
Gray told WAVY in an interview that Gray “suffers from a mental health disorder and added that the actor is not a bad person.
“Something took place in a mental health aspect. I can not disclose what happened, I can not disclose the details of that,” Wilkins said. “All I can tell you is Bryshere is a friend, he’s like my brother. He is just someone who is dealing with some very interesting mental health issues.”
Wilkins added that he worked to get Gray a bond.
“Bryshere doesn’t need to be in jail. He wouldn’t survive in jail. He needs mental help,” Wilkins explained.
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The judge overseeing the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial dismissed a juror on the panel after discovering inconsistencies regarding where they lived. The judge hit back at Diddy’s defense team after they alleged the removal of the juror was a sign of racial bias.
Deadline reports that Judge Arun Subramanian ordered the removal of Juror No. 6, who was reported to be a 41-year-old Black man who is employed in an administrative role in a correctional facility. At issue with Judge Subramanian was the juror’s inability to confirm whether he lived in New York or New Jersey, thus giving pause on whether or not he could be a sound member of the jury panel.
The defense team for the beleaguered mogul addressed the judge via a letter claiming that the removal of the juror would make it so that no other Black juror alternate could join the panel and said they would attempt to seek a mistrial. In times past, the defense has stated that the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York operated under a racial bias.
As indicated in the report, the judge, who was considering the move last Friday, came into the court Monday morning (June 16) and announced the removal of the juror.
“The defense asked the Court to base its decision on race,” Judge Subramanian said in the court. “That would be inappropriate. So, Juror 6 is excused and is replaced by the first alternate.
He continued, “As to the defense’s allegation of prosecutorial misconduct here, that is inviting the Court to make a decision based on race – and cannot be granted.”
Juror No. 6 was replaced by a 57-year-old white man. It was expected that the trial would be concluded by the July 4 holiday.
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Atlanta rapper Silentó has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the aggravated manslaughter of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, and other charges related to the 2021 shooting.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced in a news release on Wednesday that Silentó, born Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another. According to the Associated Press, a murder charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement.
For those who are unfamiliar with the downfall of the “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” artist and the violent death of his cousin, here’s a quick rundown as reported by AP:
DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Rooks’ body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots.
A family member of Rooks told police that Silentó had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting.
Silentó confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities said.
In 2020, Silentó, who was a high school junior in 2015 when he released his “Watch Me” smash hit, had been involved in a number of run-ins with the law, some of which involved violence allegedly threatened or committed against others.
In August 2020, he was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, in Los Angeles, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a stranger’s home looking for his girlfriend, who wasn’t there, and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed.
In 2019, he made an appearance on the medical talk show The Doctors, where he discussed struggling with depression and witnessing violence and mental illness among his family members growing up.
“I’ve been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,” he said.
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Luigi Mangione, the alleged suspect in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was arrested and had his belongings confiscated. Among them were spiral notebooks filled with writings that, according to prosecutors, explained the motivation behind the crime Mangione is accused of.
The New York Post shared a report on Wednesday (June 4) that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed documents with the court to present the writings of Luigi Mangione. The notebooks laid out Mangione’s motivations, which were to strike a blow against the healthcare industry that he felt was consumed by financial greed.
“So say you want to rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel. Do you bomb the HQ? No. Bombs=terrorism,” read a portion of Mangione’s writings. Another portion of the writings added context that Mangione felt it more effective to “wack [sic] the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted and precise and doesn’t risk innocents.”
Throughout the writings, Mangione, 27, maintained an air of continually justifying the crime and lessening the impact his actions could have on bystanders. Furthermore, Mangione railed against other healthcare companies, framing them as entities that “literally extracts human life force for money.”
Mangione aimed to make Thompson’s death a spectacle that would play out in the media and bring light to his crusade to send a message to the healthcare industry.
“The point is made in the news headline Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference,” Mangione wrote in the book. “It conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming. “Members of the public can focus on greed, on the event through reasonable acceptable discussion.”
The prosecution wrote the following regarding Luigi Mangione’s alleged plot:
If ever there were an open and shut case pointing to a defendant’s guilt, this case is that case. Simply put, one would be hard pressed to find a case with such overwhelming evidence of guilt as to the identity of the murderer and the premeditated nature of the assassination.
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As more people take the stand and testify against Diddy in his sex trafficking trial, any hopes of him seeing the light of day dims that much more as stories and memories of his obscene behavior continue to paint a picture of a man who had no regard for human decency, allegedly.
Now, People has shared an exclusive interview with a former male escort who was hired by Diddy to partake in his infamous “Freak Offs” during its heyday. Not only does he admit to sleeping with Cassie at the “soirees,” but he even had a message for Diddy’s ex-girlfriend who he called “uplifting” and “the kindest and most respectful person.”
Shawn Dearing says he was one of more than 10 male escorts that Diddy hired to have sex with his then girlfriend, Cassie, during his Freak Offs and explained to People that the only reason he’s talking now is because he was already outted during the trial with his picture and alias becoming part of the proceedings when Cassie testified on May 14. Dearing was one of the many male escorts that Diddy hired over the years.
People reports:
“I never wanted to open my mouth,” he says. “I don’t seek attention. I don’t want to go out there and make it seem like I’m trying to get my name known off of this experience.”
When discussing Ventura, he says, “You got me tearing up! I want what’s best for her, honestly, because she … she’s a badass lady, man. She’s awesome. So I want her respect first and foremost.”
Admitting that though Diddy was in the room with him and Cassie every time they hooked up, Dearing aka Skyler stated that Diddy himself never “touched” him and only directed what he wanted to see the two engage in sexually. He also said he never witnessed Diddy physically abuse Cassie but felt that the interactions themselves were a form of mistreatment.
Ventura’s “kindness” was “being abused in [an] improper manner,” Dearing claims.
“She was there under his control, and there was that knowing and understanding that if she didn’t do what he said — I don’t know what the consequences could have been, but I could tell there was that constant energy of knowing that we must perform for him or else,” he felt.
Dearing also remembered that Cassie wasn’t allowed to speak unless Diddy was in the room with them and it got to the point where he once asked her a question after Diddy left the room to which she responded, “No, no, no. Not until he gets back.”
Yeah, Diddy might have to swallow whatever’s left of his pride, open his wallet and beg Donald Trump for a presidential pardon because it’s looking like he’s about to be held accountable for his crimes in a court of law.
What do y’all think about Shawn Dearing’s story about Diddy and Cassie? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Boulder Police Department / Handout
Mohammed Sabry Soliman, a native of Egypt, appeared in Colorado court on Monday (June 2) in the wake of the Molotov cocktail attack Soliman carried out over the weekend in Boulder. Soliman, who planned the Molotov cocktail attack for a year, delayed carrying out the act until after his daughter’s high school graduation, according to reports.
As reported by local outlet KMGH-TV, Soliman, 45, has resided in El Paso County for three years with his wife and their five children after living in Kuwait for 17 years. Details are still developing in the matter, but reports state that Soliman planned his attack for a year and arrived at Pearl Street on Sunday with a dozen Molotov cocktail bombs.
According to a filed affidavit, Soliman reportedly yelled at officials and onlookers “Free Palestine” and “You’re killing my people” while expressing a desire to “Kill all Zionist people” and wishing for their death across the board.
It has since come out that Soliman was in the United States illegally after his tourism visa expired and was granted a work permit in 2023. Soliman told the authorities that he had planned his attack for a year and wanted to carry out the bombing earlier, but waited until after his daughter graduated. He also told officials he attempted to buy a firearm, but because of his illegal status, he couldn’t do so.
“The Department of Justice has swiftly charged the illegal alien perpetrator of this heinous attack with a federal hate crime and will hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated on Monday. “Our prayers are with the victims and our Jewish community across the world. This vile anti-Semitic violence comes just weeks after the horrific murder of two young Jewish Americans in Washington DC. We will never tolerate this kind of hatred. We refuse to accept a world in which Jewish Americans are targeted for who they are and what they believe.”
Mohammed Sabry Soliman, who encountered the court on Monday, is facing federal and local hate crime charges, which include 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and other charges. He is being held on a $10 million bond.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sexual trafficking and racketeering trial continued this week with explosive testimony from a former assistant who tearfully took the stand and levied serious allegations. The assistant, known only to the court as “Mia,” delivered shocking details alleging that Diddy sexually assaulted her several times and that she lived in fear of the mogul.
As spotted in Deadline and Complex, a woman who worked as an assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs rose to the ranks of a high-ranking official in Combs’ Revolt Films. However, the ascension came with a series of conditions that, while alleged, were shocking in their descriptions.
Referred to as “Mia” throughout her testimony, the woman says she began her working relationship with Diddy in 2009, and that he initially greeted her in his underwear in their early days of working together. From there, Mia says she endured several alleged offenses, including rape, assault, abuse, all delivered under Combs’ rigid demands of obedience and around-the-clock working demands.
“It’s the most traumatizing, the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” Mia said of the rape, assault and workplace abuse. “I was going to die with this, I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”
Mia was asked by prosecutors if she ever rebuffed any of Combs’ advances, to which she explained that she felt powerless to do so.
“I couldn’t tell him no about a sandwich,” Mia answered. “I couldn’t tell him no about anything. “
She continued, “There was no way I could tell him no, because then he would know that I thought he was doing was wrong, and then I would be a target. He would fire me and ruin my future and somehow twist the story into making me look like a threat. I knew his power, and I knew his control over me, and I didn’t want to lose everything that I worked so hard for or this like world that was the only thing that I had anymore.”
Mia was expected to face Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team, which involves cross-examining the witness today (May 30).
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Photo: John Lamparski / Getty
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On Wednesday (May 28), President Donald Trump issued an order commuting the federal prison sentence of the former leader of the Gangster Disciples, Larry Hoover. The federal sentence of three life terms was given to Hoover for running the Gangster Disciples from his prison cell. However, Hoover remains in jail for state murder charges in Illinois. Advocates are calling on Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to give Hoover clemency.Hoover’s commutation was part of a group of 26 acts of clemency and pardons issued by Trump. That group includes rapper NBA Youngboy and reality television stars Todd and Julie Christley. It was announced by the White House’s “pardon czar”, Alice Marie Johnson.
In a separate interview with TMZ Hip Hop, she said that she hoped that Governor Pritzker would consider giving Hoover clemency. Ye, aka Kanye West, has also made pleas to Trump to release Hoover, bringing one of his lawyers to the White House during his first term in 2018, saying it was “very important for me to get Hoover out.”The 74-year-old is currently serving a 200-year sentence for his conviction for murdering rival William Young in 1973. In order for him to be freed, a petition has to be approved by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Hoover was denied parole in 2022, after letters from Young’s family protested his release.
“I think there’s a mass pressure here for JB to show that he believes in redemption,” said community activist and Hoover friend Ja’mal Green. “If we’re going by what he claims he believes and the policies that he has signed on with his pen then Larry Hoover represents that. This is merely politics if JB Pritzker does not use a stroke of his pen.”“I understand folks on both sides some who quite frankly felt a lot of pain, but also those who can believe in the power of redemption,” said Illinois State Senator Willie Preston, representing the 16th District, to local NBC network News 5 Chicago.
According to a representative for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Hoover remains in custody at the United States Penitentiary Florence ADMAX in Florence, Colorado. There has been no word from Pritzker’s office that signals that they’re open to giving Hoover clemency.
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Photo: U.S. District Court Records
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Larry Hoover, a founder of the infamous Gangster Disciples street gang out of Chicago, had his life sentence commuted by Donald Trump, according to various reports. Social media reaction to the news has been a mixed bag, to say the least.
On Wednesday (May 28), Trump commuted the multiple life sentences of Hoover, 74. He was imprisoned for the 1973 murder a 19-year-od named William “Pooky” Young, who was allegedly a drug dealer. That state charge was already a 200-year sentence, then in 1997 he was sentenced to six life sentences by the Feds.
But, it seems like being accused of running a vast criminal enterprise wasn’t enough for Trump lto stay away from his case. This is just the latest of eyebrow-raising prisoner interventions from Trump that include the pardoning of reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion .
As for Hoover, the authorities have long accused him of running the gang while imprisoned. According to prison records, Hoover was serving his six life sentences in Colorado. Hoover’s lawyer issued the following statement:
“The Courts have demonstrated a complete unwillingness to consider Mr. Hoover’s considerable growth and complete rehabilitation. Despite the Court’s unwillingness to do the right thing, Mr. Hoover has been able to keep his voice alive through the incredible work of many advocates and supporters. Thankfully, Mr. Hoover’s pleas were heard by President Trump who took action to deliver justice for Mr. Hoover.”
Now the question is if whether or not the Feds will deliver Hoover to state authorities, where he’s supposed to serve the rest of his sentence, or if he’ll be released outright, and when.
Hoover has achieved a mythical status in urban areas and Hip-Hop circles as an antihero. Known in some circles as King Hoover, one of the most famed recent homages to him was Rick Ross’ 2010 hit “”B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast),” where the Miami rapper shouted GD leader out in the chorus. Also, back in 2021 when Kanye West and Drake were still frenemies they hosted a benefit concert to raise awareness.
Reactions to news of Hoover potentially getting pardoned started pouring in as soon as the news broke. Where there are many, like Chance The Rapper, who consider him a political prisoner, there are those who don’t appreciate the violence he allegedly help unleash in Chicago. See some of the more poignant observations in the gallery.
Keep in mind that Trump doesn’t do anything out of the goodness of his heart, allegedly.
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