Diddy verdict: Sean Combs found not guilty on racketeering and sex trafficking, guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution as he now faces a potential 20 years jail in sentencing while the case raises questions about domestic abuse (against on and off girlfriend and victim- Cassie Ventura), sexual fantasy, whether the rap mogul was being punished for his amoral lifestyle and when fantasies become crimes.
Rap mogul, Sean Combs was on Wednesday acquitted on federal charges of forcing his former lovers to participate in his vacuous sexual fantasies — but found guilty of lesser prostitution charges.
Combs, 55, better known by his stage name Diddy, avoided charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering that carried a possible life sentence after a two-month trial that revealed startling details about the mogul, and his penchant for his ‘swinger lifestyle‘ and his obsession with ‘freak-offs‘ — watching his girlfriends having hours long drug-fueled sex romps with male escorts.
The embattled entrepreneur, 55, had faced life in prison after being charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. In the end he was found guilty on two counts of five charges against him.
🚨 A jury has found Sean “Diddy” Combs guilty only of transportation for prostitution — the less serious charge.
▪️ Racketeering: Not Guilty
▪️ Trafficking (Cassie): Not Guilty
▪️ Transport (Cassie): Guilty
▪️ Trafficking (Jane Doe): Not Guilty
▪️ Transport (Jane Doe): Guilty pic.twitter.com/DIkJIKVmbB— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 2, 2025
Diddy verdict: when sex fantasies become crimes
A jury of 12 (jury of eight men and four women) convicted the rap entrepreneur of only of prostitution charges stemming from shipping the escorts across state lines, which could send him to prison for up to 20 years. Some legal experts believe he may now only serve mere months when it comes to sentencing.
Jurors had deliberated for 13 hours total over three days, leading to a dramatic scene in a Manhattan federal courtroom Tuesday after a jury had reached a partial verdict before being implored by presiding Judge Arun Subramanian to continue deliberating until they had reached a verdict on all charges.
The jury ultimately found Combs guilty of two Mann Act Transportation counts, which are prostitution charges, each carrying a maximum prison term of 10 years.
After the verdict, Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked the judge to release the rapper from jail and into home confinement because he had been acquitted of the most serious charges.
‘My proposal would be that he be released today, that he be permitted to live at his home in Florida,’ Agnifilo said. ‘It would be a bond of whatever size your honor sees fit, maybe $1 million?’
Assistant District Attorney Maurene Comey opposed the request, arguing that Combs was still convicted of serious crimes and posed a danger.
‘There is serious, serious relevant conduct here that will merit a lengthy period of incarceration,’ she said.
Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs if he wanted to go back to the notorious Brooklyn jail that he’s been held in since his September arrest.
‘Mr. Combs, you don’t want to go back to the MDC?’ Subramanian asked.
The mogul shook his head several times and held up his hands in a prayer gesture toward the judge.
Subramanian likely will decide whether Combs should be released after he listens to legal arguments from the prosecution and defense at 1 p.m.
Diddy argues that Cassie Ventura was a willing participant in sex…
The verdict is the latest twist in the downfall of a Harlem native who grew his Bad Boy Records label into an empire worth nearly $1 billion, became one of the music world’s most recognizable figures, and hosted celebrity-packed ‘white parties’ in glitzy locales like the Hamptons and Beverly Hills.
‘He thought that his fame, wealth, and power put him above the law — but over the course of this trial, his crimes have been exposed,’ Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik told jurors in closing statements.
Prosecutors called 34 witnesses as they sought to portray Combs as the kingpin of a crew that plotted a slew of crimes over two decades, including setting Kid Cudi’s Porsche on fire and breaking into his home in a jealous rage over the rapper’s relationship with longtime on-and-off girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
The 12-person jury was repeatedly shown infamous surveillance video of Combs shoving, kicking, and dragging Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016 — and heard evidence that he bribed security guards with $100,000 in a failed bid to bury the footage.
Jurors also heard evidence that Combs had multiple employees buy him illegal drugs and fly them across state lines for use during his sex romps.
Combs — who has been held at a Brooklyn lockup since his September 2024 arrest at a Midtown hotel — did not testify during the trial.
The rap mogul has maintained his innocence. His lawyers argued at trial that the women consented to the encounters, that the feds improperly criminalized his ‘swinger’ lifestyle, and that he was guilty of domestic abuse, but not the sex crimes he was charged with.
‘He did what he did,’ Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo said in his closing statement. ‘But he’s going to fight to the death to defend himself from what he didn’t do.’
The multi-millionaire/billionaire had up to eight lawyers during the trial, leading some to wonder if his access to large swath of funds ultimately helped him avoid the full wrath of the law. Others wondered whether he should’ve been charged on the sex crimes in the first place, especially as damning evidence showed willing and complicity from his alleged victims. Others wondered if the mogul was being punished for nothing more but living an ‘amoral’ lifestyle.
The jet-setting tycoon’s fall from grace began when Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a November 2023 lawsuit accusing Combs of forcing her into the ‘freak-offs’ and viciously beating her throughout their decade-long relationship (which saw her live a life of luxury, extravagance and advantage after being signed on and leap frogging her own music career).
Combs paid Ventura $20 million to settle the case just one day later, but her allegations spurred the feds’ criminal probe into Combs.
During the two month long trial, the jury heard evidence that Combs controlled every aspect of the marathon sex sessions, dictating his lovers’ outfits, demanding that they apply copious amounts of baby oil and plying them with ecstasy so they could stay awake.
Ventura, 38, quietly wept as she told jurors excruciating details about Combs beating her for years and pressuring her into the humiliating freak-off performances.
At first, she consented to the sexual escapades, despite being “confused and nervous,” because she loved Combs and ‘wanted to make him happy,’ Ventura testified.
But the singer, whom Combs had signed to his record label, said she soon felt forced to yield to his demands that she have ‘hundreds’ of encounters with male sex workers.
The disgraced music producer threatened to release tapes of the ‘freak-offs’ if she stopped participating, said Ventura, who took the stand while nine months pregnant.
