Jury acquits Sean “Diddy” Combs of serious charges, but he’s not yet a free man

07/03/2025 / By Ramon Tomey

Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of severe charges including racketeering and sex trafficking but convicted on two counts of violating the Mann Act (transporting individuals for “immoral purposes”), carrying a potential 20-year sentence.
Prosecutors presented a 2016 surveillance video showing Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, alongside witness testimony alleging coercion, violent behavior and financial manipulation of accusers.
Combs’ legal team framed his actions as drug-fueled jealousy rather than criminal enterprise, calling the acquittals a “victory of all victories” and requesting bail – denied by the judge due to safety concerns.
The trial reflects broader scrutiny of high-profile figures in hip-hop (e.g., R. Kelly) as survivors challenge impunity, tarnishing Combs’ legacy despite the partial acquittal.
Combs remains jailed in Brooklyn, with a tentative sentencing date of Oct. 3, marking a pivotal moment in his legal saga beyond his music career.

Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs faced a dramatic legal reckoning after a federal jury acquitted him of serious charges such as racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

The verdict Wednesday, July 2, nevertheless convicted him of transporting individuals for “immoral purposes” under the 1910 Mann Act. While he was cleared of serious charges, the Bad Boy Records founder isn’t a free man just yet. He remains jailed pending sentencing and could still face up to 20 years behind bars.

The case prosecuted in Manhattan’s Southern District, hinged on claims that Combs leveraged his wealth and influence to manipulate women into drug-fueled sexual encounters – claims his attorneys dismissed as consensual. The mixed verdict capped a sordid trial that exposed allegations of coercion, violence and exploitation.

The 12-member jury made up of eight men and four women rejected the prosecution’s most severe charges, including sex trafficking of his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another anonymous accuser. However, they convicted Combs on two Mann Act violations – which criminalize transporting people across state lines for prostitution or debauchery. (Related: P. Diddy sex trafficking ring allegedly involves the hotel, banking, pharmaceutical industries.)

The trial’s most damning moment came when prosecutors played a 2016 hotel surveillance video showing Combs assaulting Ventura, a moment witnesses testified he later tried to pay staff to erase. Ventura, who settled a lawsuit against Combs last year for $20 million, detailed how he allegedly orchestrated humiliating “freak-offs” with male escorts, threatening her with leaked tapes if she refused. Another accuser, “Jane,” testified she felt financially trapped into complying.

Judge Subramanian DENIES BAIL, orders Diddy to stay in jail

Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo hailed the acquittals as a “victory of all victories.” While the rapper’s defense team conceded his history of violence, it framed those streaks as erratic, drug-fueled jealousy – not a criminal enterprise.

Given the acquittals, Agnifilo petitioned the court to set his client free, since the racketeering and sex trafficking charges did not hold. The lawyer said Combs should be released to home detention in Miami and offered a $1 million bond.

However, Judge Arun Subramanian denied bail. The magistrate argued that Combs remains a “danger to the community,” also noting that “the defense conceded violence in his personal relationship.” The 55-year-old rapper remains in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since his September 2024 arrest.

Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, emphasized the broader fight against exploitation: “New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped,” read a statement from U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

Combs now awaits sentencing. Subramanian has proposed Oct. 3 as a tentative date, while the rapper’s defense team has requested that it be done sooner. The next chapter of his legal battle will be dictated not by beats, but by taps of the gavel.

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Watch Greg Reese of “Reese Report” explaining why Sean Combs is the Jeffrey Epstein of the rap industry in this video.

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