Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of racketeering and major sex trafficking charges but found guilty of transporting individuals for prostitution—each count carrying up to 10 years in prison.
United States: Former international hip-hop superstar and mogul Sean Combs (also known as Diddy) stood trial on federal racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, forced drug-dazed “freak offs,” was acquitted on the higher-order charges but convicted of lesser counts Wednesday.
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On the third day of the jury deliberation, the verdict that was given was that Combs, 55, was acquitted of one count of conspiracy related to racketeering, two counts related to sex trafficking after force, fraud, or coercion, but guilty of two counts of transporting with an intent to engage in the act of prostitution.
At the time of sentencing, the act of prostitution transportation is equivalent to up to 10 years in jail per count, as NBC News reported.
Diddy has been found not guilty of sex-tr@fficking and racketeering conspiracy, but was found guilty of transportation for prost!tution. He could face up to a maximum of 20 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/xyOOK832eW
— OLAMIDE 🌸💖 (@Olamide0fficial) July 2, 2025
The prosecutors in the federal courts indicated that they would demand a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The conviction is partial, which crowned an incredible downfall of the self-proclaimed NY-born rapper who climbed to the top of the hip-hop culture and made himself a household name.
At the end of a 30-year career in the limelight, it was a salacious accusation by his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, that triggered his downward spiral from an impresario into a jailed felon.
During a seven-week trial in New York, a woman jury of eight men and four women listened to the U.S. government accusing the Bad Boy Records founder of using his power, wealth, and influence as a ran of a criminal enterprise to sexually abuse and exploit women to his personal satisfaction over the past 20 years.
His defense appealed to the jury that the scenario against Combs was not really bad enough to warrant trial and that he was merely put on trial because of his lifestyle that was that of a swinger, except that it was violent and was supplemented with drugs and baby oil, but at the end, the lifestyle was what people wanted.
The dueling images leave an entirely different light on the Harlem-born beatmaker who dominated the hip-hop and R&B charts, found a niche in the celebrity circuit, and drove his colorful personality and heedless lifestyle and business interests, such as in reality programming and fashion, as an innovator and brand ambassador, as NBC News reported.
Nearly three dozen government witnesses testified in the trial, including previous personal assistants, stylists, and even label artists, testifying against Combs voluntarily, and others given immunity to do so.
Three of them, including Cassie, whose given name is Casandra Ventura, were the main subjects of the story, who testified in detail on accusations of sexual assault and violence or threat of blackmail.