Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in P̶r̶o̶s̶t̶i̶t̶u̶t̶i̶o̶n̶, but has dodged the three most serious charges: Two counts of $ex trafficking and one count of racketeering.
He could face a maximum of 10 years each for the two counts of transportation to engage in P̶r̶o̶s̶t̶i̶t̶u̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.
While Combs could still spend decades behind bars, the mood among the defense team was celebratory. Aside from a total acquittal, this was the best outcome for him. After the jury announced the split verdict, Combs pumped his fist and mouthed “thank you” at the jurors.
He appeared relieved and overjoyed, shaking his attorneys’ hands, facing his family and starting a round of applause. As the jury read out the first “not guilty” verdict, gasps were heard in the courtroom. Members of Combs’ family and legal team began to cry.
An hour later, as Combs’ family exited the courthouse and piled into a Sprinter van, his sons and daughters broke into half-smiles as a crowd hung cameras over their heads and chanted, “Freedom! Freedom!”
The defense is currently arguing for Combs to be released before his sentencing date, proposing a $1 million bond. Federal prosecutors said Combs’ lawyers are underplaying the seriousness of the conviction, and that there is a “real risk” to letting him walk free. The judge said he will consider the law before making a decision.
The jury delivered the verdict after a grueling eight-week trial that featured 34 witnesses testifying against the hip-hop mogul and Bad Boy Records founder.
Combs, once a titan of the music and fashion industries, was accused of coercing multiple women into having “freak-offs” — days-long, drug-fueled sex marathons with male escorts that he flew across state lines. The defense argued that Combs paid these men for their “time,” and that sexual encounters naturally came about between three consenting adults. The prosecution said the notion that the male escorts were not paid for sex “doesn’t even pass the laugh test,” and that when Combs handed them wads of cash at the end of “freak-offs,” it wasn’t for their “scintillating conversation.”
The defense considers Combs’ acquittal on the sex trafficking and racketeering charges a major victory.
During an intense, four-day testimony, his ex-girlfriend of 11 years, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, alleged Combs routinely assaulted and psychologically abused her. Photos of her injuries and videos of the “freak-offs” from across their relationship were shown to the jury. Ventura sued Combs in November 2023, kicking off a wave of litigation and later a federal investigation. Combs paid her $20 million in a settlement the next day.
“Jane,” an anonymous witness who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, accused Combs of forcing her to take drugs and have “freak-offs,” using the fact that he paid her rent as leverage. In what prosecutors called “the most clear-cut example of sex trafficking in this case,” Combs allegedly punched, kicked and dragged Jane into the house before giving her drugs and inviting over a male escort. “Is this coercion?” Combs allegedly said to Jane, mocking the federal investigation looming over him.
“Mia,” another pseudonymous witness, worked for Combs as a personal assistant and then executive. She said during her employment, he physically assaulted her and raped her. Other witnesses testified to Combs’ alleged criminal activity spanning 20 years.
A former stylist spoke of witnessing Combs’ violence toward Ventura. A fashion designer claimed Combs held her over the railing of a 17th-story balcony. A hotel security guard said Combs bribed him with $100,000 in cash to erase the surveillance footage that depicted his 2016 assault on Ventura. The rapper Kid Cudi, who briefly dated Ventura in 2011, accused Combs of breaking into his house and, on a separate occasion, orchestrating an arson on his car.
Prosecutors painted Combs as the leader of an enterprise whose “inner circle” of security guards and staffers helped him commit crimes (including sex trafficking, drug distribution, arson and bribery) and cover them up.
The defense argued that Combs was simply part of a “swingers lifestyle,” and that his drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak-offs” were entirely consensual. Combs’ attorneys disputed the racketeering charge by saying Combs’ businesses were legitimate and he did not have a co-conspirator.
For example, the defense argued that Combs’ security detail did not know what happened during “hotel nights,” and that his personal assistants were not aware they were committing crimes when they picked up drugs and delivered them to him.
