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Sean 'Puffy' Combs trial gets underway on Jan. 8
A year after a New York nightclub shooting led to his arrest on weapons and bribery charges, the trial of hip-hop star and record company mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs is about to get underway. If convicted, Combs could face up to 15 years in prison.
The trial of Combs and two co-defendants opens on Jan. 8 in New York. Combs and Anthony Jones are charged with illegal possession of a stolen gun that police said was found on the floor of the vehicle in which they fled the 1999 shooting. Combs is also accused of attempting to bribe a witness.
Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, a rapper who released his first album on Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment label last year, faces charges of assault, possession of a weapon and harassment. Prosecutors allege that Barrow--who wasn't in the vehicle with Combs--fired the gunshots that wounded three people.
Two other passengers in the fleeing vehicle--Combs’ girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and his driver Wardel Fenderson--were not charged with crimes. Fenderson, who reportedly has been cooperating with prosecutors, has claimed that Combs offered him $50,000 to tell police the gun belonged to him.
Combs, who has consistently maintained his innocence since the incident, has embarked on a public relations offensive in advance of the trial. In a recent interview with the New York Daily News, he said that the Lincoln Navigator that he and Lopez jumped into wasn’t his usual car, and that he had no idea that there was a gun inside.
“You don't know where [the gunshots are] coming from, who they're trying to hit," he told the newspaper. "[I'm thinking,] 'Let me get my girlfriend the hell outta here.' I would have jumped into a police car. I would have run down the street with Jennifer on my back!"
The BET cable network's show "BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley" will air a two-part interview with Combs on Wednesday and Thursday (1/3-4).
