Sean “Diddy” Combs has been cleared of racketeering and sex trafficking in federal court, but is guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Concluding a trial that began in May, in Manhattan’s Federal District Court, the jury determined that Diddy is not guilty of three of the five charges, including racketeering, which carried the heaviest sentence. Each count of transportation to engage in prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, NBC News reports. Diddy, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, still faces numerous civil lawsuits accusing him of various sex crimes. As reported by The New York Times, Diddy, his family, his legal team, and his supporters reacted enthusiastically to today’s verdict.
After reconvening at 5 p.m. today for a bail hearing, Judge Arun Subramanian denied Diddy bail, citing the jury’s conviction of two counts and the documentation of Diddy’s violence in evidence shown in court. Judge Subramanian added that the court will determine the length and details of Diddy’s sentence on Friday, October 3. Diddy’s lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, Jason Driscoll, Teny Geragos, Alexandra Shapiro, and Brian Steel, were present for the decision, as was the disgraced rapper and his family.
“Even if the defendant was solely required to show that he is not a danger to the community, he could not meet that burden. Prior to trial, the court denied bail, and sees no reason to reverse that now. The defense conceded the defendant’s violence,” Judge Subramanian said when denying Diddy bail. “His violence is depicted in the video of Cassie Ventura. The defense admitted, ‘This is a terrible moment, domestic violence is the issue,’ is what she said. It wasn’t only that. There was the London Hotel incident. There was violence after the searches in this case. As to Jane, there was June 2024 – after the searches of Combs’ residences. This evidences a disregard for the law and a propensity for violence.”
The jury began deliberating on Monday, June 30, and the jurors informed Judge Subramanian that they had reached a partial verdict on Tuesday. The jury had been deadlocked on the racketeering conspiracy charge at the heart of the federal government’s case against Diddy, and delivered its final verdict on Wednesday morning. Reporters including Meghan Cuniff and Matthew Russell Lee posted live from the courtroom.
The federal indictment alleged that Diddy has run a criminal enterprise since at least 2008, under which he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” largely during marathon multi-partner sex sessions the rapper calls “freak-offs.” Diddy and his associates have been accused of drugging women and forcing them to have sex with male sex workers while filming them.
The prosecution, an all-women legal team led by Maurene Comey, questioned 34 witnesses during the trial, presenting photos, videos, pages of text messages and email transcripts, and financial records as evidence against Diddy. Among the central testimonies were those of Diddy’s former girlfriends Casandra Elizabeth “Cassie” Ventura and a woman identified only as “Jane,” both of whom accused Diddy of forcing them to participate in “freak-offs.” Cassie also accused Diddy of rape and physical abuse during her four-day testimony. Diddy declined to testify during the trial, and the defense presented no other witnesses.
The two counts on which Diddy was convicted relate to the transportation of Cassie and Jane to engage in prostitution. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. It is still to be determined if Diddy will be released on bond as he awaits sentencing.
Key testimony in the trial came from singer, songwriter, and former Diddy collaborator Dawn Richard. Richard alleged that, during that period, Diddy physically and verbally assaulted her during their years working together on the reality show Making the Band and in the groups Danity Kane and Diddy – Dirty Money. (She brought the same allegations in a lawsuit filed last year.) During the trial, Richard also testified to witnessing Diddy physically abuse Cassie on numerous occasions, including an alleged 2009 incident during which she watched Diddy “beat [Cassie] on the ground in front of us.” Richard added, “I was scared that if I intervened, I might get [it] worse. I had never seen anything like that before.”
During the second week of the trial, rapper Kid Cudi took the witness stand. Cudi testified that his brief relationship with Cassie infuriated Diddy to the point that he arranged for a Molotov cocktail to be thrown into Cudi’s car. Cudi claims that Diddy had his Porsche 911 convertible blown up as a form of retaliation for dating Cassie.
The prosecution also presented numerous former employees of Diddy, who claimed to have witnessed the rapper engaging in physical abuse and drug use; former escorts who testified about getting paid by Diddy for the alleged “freak-offs”; Cassie’s mother, who recalled that Cassie informed her, in 2011, that Diddy was threatening to release explicit sex tapes of her; and several others.
Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, special agent in charge of the New York field office of Homeland Security Investigations, issued a statement on the verdict today, writing: “Sex crimes deeply scar victims, and the disturbing reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects of our society. Victims endure gut-wrenching physical and mental abuse, leading to lasting trauma. New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped and perpetrators brought to justice.”
Clayton and Patel continued: “Prosecuting sex crimes requires brave victims to come forward and tell their harrowing stories. We and our law enforcement partners recognize the hardships victims endure and have prioritized a victim-centered approach to investigating and prosecuting these cases.
“Today we recognize the important work of the SDNY’s Civil Rights Unit as well as the tireless efforts of the women and men at HSI who are devoted to combatting human trafficking. We thank the Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, Digital Forensic Unit and the Complex Analytics and Social Media Enhancement (CASE) Team at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. We would also like to thank our partners at the NYPD for their assistance in this matter and for sharing our victim-centered approach to combatting sex crimes.”
The defense focused on coloring Diddy’s alleged victims as willing participants. It depicted Jane as a consenting sex partner, showing text messages intended to present her as an enthusiastic participant in sex acts with Diddy and male escorts.
Diddy’s attorneys also zeroed in on text message exchanges between Cassie and Diddy during the lead-up to a 2016 freak-off, insinuating that Cassie was planning the event, and pointing out texts that suggested she was consenting to participation. Additionally, the defense presented drugs (or withdrawal from them) and jealousy as scapegoats for Diddy’s alleged violence.
Douglas H. Wigdor, the lawyer who represented Cassie in her quickly settled bombshell lawsuit against Diddy, released a statement today in response to the verdict. “This entire criminal process started when our client Cassie Ventura had the courage to file her civil complaint in November 2023,” Wigdor said. “Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution. By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice. We must repeat—with no reservation—that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial. 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. This case proved that change is long overdue, and we will continue to fight on behalf of survivors.”
Women’s rights organization UltraViolet made the following statement to The New York Times in response to today’s verdict: “This is a decisive moment for our justice system, one which threatens to undo the sacrifice of courageous survivors who stepped forward to share their stories in this trial, as well as to all those abused by Diddy who weren’t able to. Today’s verdict is not just a stain on a criminal justice system that for decades has failed to hold accountable abusers like Diddy, it’s also an indictment of a culture in which not believing women and victims of sexual assault remains endemic. We will continue to stand with the brave women and men who took great risk to reveal the person Diddy really is.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault or domestic abuse, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
https://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
SMS: Text “HELLO” or “HOLA” to 741-741
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
https://thehotline.org
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
