Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking but was convicted of a less serious prostitution charge after a high-profile marathon trial in New York.
He was denied bail after the jury found him guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
But the 55-year-old hip-hop pioneer was acquitted of a major racketeering charge and two sex trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.
Combs bowed his head, quietly pumping his fists in his lap and bringing his hands together in prayer as the verdicts were read out. At one point, he looked towards the ceiling, appearing to express deep relief.
He shook hands with one of his lawyers and mouthed thanks to the eight-man, four-woman jury as they filed out of the courtroom.
He then fell to his knees at the defence table, where he had spent two months wondering if he would live out his days in a cell.
The verdict came after seven weeks of intense testimony, in which prosecutors had accused Combs of being the boss of a decades-long criminal enterprise, directing loyal employees and bodyguards to commit myriad offences at his behest.
Jurors had been deadlocked on the racketeering charge yesterday but Judge Arun Subramanian instructed them to keep working.
Judge Subramanian cited Combs’ confessed history of domestic violence in the decision to deny him bail.
Combs, once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, appeared deflated after the bail decision.
Along with racketeering, Combs was charged with sex trafficking two women: singer Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane.
Both were in long-term relationships with the entrepreneur, and they each testified about abuse, threats and coercive sex in graphic detail.
They both said they felt obligated to participate in sexual marathons with hired men directed and sometimes filmed by Combs.
Combs’ lawyers insisted the sex was consensual.
They conceded domestic violence was a feature of his relationships – one harrowing example of him beating and dragging Ventura was caught on security footage that has been widely publicised.
Yet while disturbing, his actions did not amount to sex trafficking, the defence said. Jurors ultimately agreed.
Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, released a statement saying she had made an “indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice”.
“She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion,” read the statement.
“We’re pleased that he’s finally been held responsible for two federal crimes,” Wigdor told journalists outside the courthouse.
Combs’ family members, present throughout the trial that began in early May, clapped and cheered for him in court when the verdict was handed down.
His mother waved at the cameras as she left the building with a smile.
Combs has been incarcerated at a notorious Brooklyn prison since he was arrested in September 2024.
The defence immediately requested that he be released on bond – they suggested US$1 million ($1.6m) – and be permitted to travel between Miami, Los Angeles, and New York while he awaits sentencing.
They said they would hand over his passport to court officials.
But the judge said he must remain behind bars until sentencing, possibly in October.
The guilty findings confirm that Combs transported both Ventura and Jane for purposes of prostitution during the sometimes days-long sex parties.
Lead prosecutor Maurene Comey opposed Agnifilo’s bond request on that basis, accusing the defence of trying to “downplay the seriousness” of the convictions.
In a letter filed to the court, prosecutors said he should remain behind bars until his sentencing, calling him a flight risk with a history of violence and abuse against women and a “habitual drug user”.
Wigdor also filed a letter to the court on behalf of Ventura, urging the judge not to grant bond and to consider that “Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case”.
- Agence France-Presse