Musician Sean “Diddy” Combs was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking on Wednesday but convicted of a lesser charge of prostitution after a seven-week high-profile trial in New York.
The jury, following 13 hours of deliberation over three days, returned a guilty verdict on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, each count carrying a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The 55-year-old music executive smiled and appeared relieved as the verdict was read, shaking hands with one of his lawyers and thanking the jury, which consisted of eight men and four women.
Judge Arun Subramanian commended the jury’s service, saying:
“You listened, you worked together, you were here every day, rain or shine. You did so with no reward, other than the reward that comes from answering the call of public service.”
Prosecutors had accused Combs of running a criminal enterprise involving drug trafficking, forced labour, arson, bribery, and sexual abuse, painting him as the mastermind behind a network of loyal enforcers.
The racketeering conviction required jurors to find a coordinated criminal operation — a threshold they ultimately did not agree was met.
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Jurors announced a partial verdict on Tuesday but returned Wednesday to finish deliberations, eventually reaching a deadlock on the racketeering charge, which the judge instructed them to try to resolve.
Combs was ultimately acquitted of sex trafficking charges that involved singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman known only as “Jane.” Both gave harrowing testimony about coerced sex and emotional abuse during long-term relationships with Combs.
Prosecutors alleged both women were forced into group sex marathons, but the defence countered that the acts were consensual and that while Combs had engaged in domestic violence, it did not amount to sex trafficking under U.S. law.
Combs’s lawyers argued that the charges were driven by financial motives, with one calling the trial “a case about money, not justice.”
In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said:
“In his mind, he was untouchable. The defendant never thought the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them.”
The trial included extensive digital evidence — thousands of pages of financial, phone, and video records — and drew significant public attention due to Combs’s longstanding celebrity status in the entertainment industry.
Judge Subramanian is expected to set a sentencing date in the coming weeks. While the racketeering and trafficking charges were the most serious, the prostitution convictions still carry significant legal consequences.
Punch Newspaper
