Combs Cleared on Weapons, Bribery Charges

Rap impresario Sean “Puffy” Combs was acquitted Friday of toting an illegal handgun into a crowded Manhattan hip-hop club and later trying to bribe his driver to cover it up.

When the verdict was read, Combs was holding a copy of the Bible. He and his attorneys, Benjamin Brafman and Johnnie Cochran, hugged tightly.

Combs faced up to 29 years in prison had he been convicted of bribery and both weapons possession charges.

His bodyguard, Anthony “Wolf” Jones, was acquitted of the same charges. Rapper Jamaal “Shyne” Barrow, a Combs protege who had been charged with attempted murder, was instead convicted of two counts of assault for the shooting inside the club in the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 1999.

It was a stunning victory for Combs, 31, who presides over a $300-million empire--Bad Boy Entertainment--that encompasses music, movies, clothing and restaurants. He founded the company just seven years ago.

The high-profile trial stretched nearly seven weeks, with jurors hearing from 59 witnesses and examining more than 130 pieces of evidence.

Combs was the key defense witness, spending a full day testifying that he never carried a weapon on the night of his arrest and instead thought he was the target.

“I thought I was being shot at,” Combs told the jury.

He also denied offering his driver a $50,000 bribe if the man would take the gun-possession rap for Combs.

The driver, Wardel Fenderson, told the jury that Combs tucked a black handgun into his waistband before heading with his then girlfriend, singer Jennifer Lopez, to the hip-hop hot spot Club New York.

The two arrived at the nightclub, just west of Times Square, a little past midnight on Dec. 27. . But trouble began as Combs tried to leave the club shortly after 2:30 a.m. Someone bumped into Matthew “Scar” Allen, an oft-arrested New Yorker; after an exchange of insults, three to six shots rang out, wounding three people.

Nine witnesses later said they saw Barrow with a gun. Two of the shooting victims testified they also saw Combs with a gun.

Barrow was accused of shooting the victims, but he was charged with a single count of attempted murder because he was just shooting at one person. Prosecutors said Barrow missed his intended target.

Combs fled the club with Lopez, Jones and driver Fenderson in his Lincoln Navigator. They were stopped 11 blocks away after Fenderson steered the SUV onto a sidewalk to evade a police car and then ran several red lights.

A 9mm handgun police found in the SUV and a similar weapon that was allegedly hurled out the window during the chase led to gun-possession charges against Combs and Jones.

The same charges were dropped against Fenderson when he agreed to testify against the others. In stilted speech laced with malapropisms, he said his wild driving was caused by fear of Combs and Jones.

Fenderson, who twice told police that he owned the gun before recanting, also detailed the alleged bribe offer.