By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
Rapper and businessman Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday morning was found guilty on two charges and not guilty on three counts in a high-profile sex trafficking trial.
In addition to sex trafficking, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and transporting sex workers across state lines. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. But he was found not guilty of running a criminal enterprise and of two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and paid male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.
Additionally, the jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power and physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into performing sexual acts.
After the verdict was read, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian advised jurors that they do not have to speak with the media if they choose not to.
“There is an important reason to respect the privacy of your deliberations,” he said. “That being said, the choice of whether to speak to others about the case and your personal views is up to you.”
Combs faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence on the two prostitution-related charges. The sentence will be determined by Subramanian at a later, undisclosed date.
The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts mean he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison. Combs could have faced life in prison if convicted of sex trafficking or racketeering conspiracy.
After the verdict was handed down, Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, asked Subramanian to release the rapper on bail and allow him to return to his home in Florida.
“In light of the fact that Mr. Combs is no longer charged with sex trafficking … he should be released,” Agnifilo said. “This is his first conviction and it’s a prostitution offense, and so he should be released on appropriate conditions.”
Prosecutors asked that Combs be held in jail before his sentencing hearing, citing trial testimony about his alleged acts of abuse.
Subramanian asked prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys to submit letters outlining why he should be released on bail and allowed to return home, or why he should remain in custody. He ordered them to submit their arguments by 1 p.m. ET.
The government is still seeking a “substantial period of incarceration” at sentencing, prosecutor Maureen Comey said.
As Combs pleaded not guilty to all five counts, his attorneys acknowledged that the Bad Boy Records founder had been violent at times in his domestic relationships. They said the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual and denied that he was operating a sex trafficking scheme.
Combs has been held in a federal prison in the Brooklyn borough of New York City since his arrest in September 2024.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
