The federal case against Sean “Diddy” Combs ended in a split verdict on July 2, 2025: a Manhattan jury convicted the hip-hop mogul on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking. On October 3, 2025, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him to 50 months in prison, a $500,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. Combs is serving that sentence at Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey, with a projected release date of April 25, 2028, and he is appealing to the Second Circuit.1E! Online. Sean Diddy Combs Prison Release Date Moved Up2CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Sentencing
The Charges and the Verdict
Combs was arrested in New York City on September 16, 2024, after traveling to the city to surrender voluntarily once his attorney learned an indictment was imminent. The following day, a three-count indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York charging him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation for purposes of prostitution.3U.S. Department of Justice. Sean Combs Charged in Manhattan Federal Court Prosecutors superseded the indictment multiple times; by April 2025, the total charges had grown to five, adding a second sex-trafficking count and a second prostitution-transportation count tied to an individual identified as “Victim-2.”4ABC News. Federal Prosecutors File Third Superseding Indictment Against Sean Combs
After less than two days of deliberation, the jury convicted Combs only on the two transportation-to-engage-in-prostitution counts, involving Cassie Ventura and a woman referred to as “Jane.” He was acquitted of the racketeering conspiracy and both sex-trafficking counts. The jury had initially reported a deadlock on the racketeering charge before returning a unanimous verdict across all five counts.5BBC. Sean Combs Verdict
What Prosecutors Alleged
The indictment described a criminal enterprise that used the staff and resources of Combs’s businesses to arrange what prosecutors called “freak offs” — elaborately staged, sometimes multi-day sexual encounters with male commercial sex workers that Combs allegedly arranged, directed, and recorded. Prosecutors alleged he distributed cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and GHB to victims to keep them compliant, and that participants often required IV fluids to recover.6U.S. Department of Justice. Sealed Indictment, U.S. v. Combs The indictment also alleged physical violence, firearm intimidation, kidnapping, and dangling a woman over a balcony.
On March 25, 2024, Homeland Security Investigations had raided Combs’s homes in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles and in Miami. Agents seized more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, narcotics, and firearms including three AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers.7CNN. Takeaways From the Indictment of Sean Diddy Combs Combs was denied bail four times by three different judges; his team formally withdrew its appeal of those denials in December 2024, and he remained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn through trial.8Rolling Stone. Sean Combs Drops Bail Appeal, Jailed Until Trial
Inside the Trial
The trial began in May 2025 before Judge Subramanian and ran roughly two months. Prosecutors called 34 witnesses. The defense rested in about 30 minutes without calling any, maintaining that all sexual activity was consensual and that the case was government overreach.9PBS NewsHour. Why the Jury Returned a Mixed Verdict in the Trial of Sean Diddy Combs
Cassie Ventura’s Testimony
Ventura, Combs’s former girlfriend, testified over multiple days. She described “freak offs” as drug-fueled encounters lasting 36 hours to four days, with hotel rooms stocked with baby oil, lubricant, and controlled substances. She said Combs choreographed every detail, specified what she wore and even her nail color, and directed sex acts with hired male escorts he paid $1,500 to $6,000.10The New York Times. Sean Combs Diddy Trial, Cassie Testimony She testified that she participated out of fear, saying she “understood Sean’s capabilities, his access to guns, the threats that he made.”11NPR. Diddy Trial Cassie Sean Combs
Ventura also confirmed for the first time that she settled her November 2023 civil suit against Combs for $20 million the day after filing it.12ABC News. Settlement Amount in Cassie Ventura’s Suit Against Sean Combs On cross, the defense pressed her on text messages that appeared to show enthusiasm for the encounters and highlighted a separate $10 million settlement she reached with the InterContinental hotel in April 2025, arguing she had a financial motive to testify.13PBS NewsHour. Cassie Forced to Read Aloud Explicit Messages in Cross-Examination
The Hotel Video
A 2016 surveillance video from the InterContinental in Los Angeles showing Combs kicking, dragging, and throwing objects at Ventura became a pivotal piece of evidence. Ventura testified the attack followed a “freak off” in which Combs had punched her in the eye. Former hotel security guard Eddy Garcia testified that Combs paid him $100,000 in cash for what he believed was the only copy of the footage, telling Garcia the video could “ruin him.” Garcia and two other employees signed nondisclosure agreements with a $1 million breach penalty. Guard Israel Florez refused the bribe and secretly copied the video to his cellphone. CNN aired the footage in the spring of 2024.14Business Insider. Why Diddy Prosecutors Think the Cassie Hotel Video Is Important
Other Witnesses
Singer Dawn Richard, a former member of Danity Kane, testified that she witnessed Combs attack Ventura in 2009, throwing her to the ground, attempting to strike her with a skillet, placing her in a chokehold, and dragging her by her hair. Richard said Combs threatened her the next day, warning that “people go missing.” The defense pointed to inconsistencies between her testimony and earlier statements to prosecutors.15Reuters. Pop Singer to Testify About Abuse at Sean Diddy Combs Sex Trafficking Trial Several of Combs’s former personal assistants testified under immunity agreements.16ABC News. Prosecutors Rest Case Against Sean Diddy Combs
The Sentence
Prosecutors asked for at least 11 years. The defense asked for time served and presented a mitigation video and testimony about a six-week educational program Combs had led for other inmates at MDC Brooklyn. Combs apologized to his children, his victims, and domestic violence survivors, and submitted a four-page letter to the judge accepting “full responsibility and accountability.”17ABC7 Chicago. Diddy Sentencing Hearing Live Updates
Judge Subramanian sentenced him to 50 months, well above the defense request and well below the prosecution’s. The judge said he did not believe Combs was taking full responsibility, noting the defense had challenged his factual guilt “full-throatedly.” He said the acquitted counts could not change the guidelines range but stated there was “no doubt that this evidence counts as coercion,” and he classified the seven escorts Combs paid as “victims.” He told Combs, “These crimes were serious ones,” and added, “You have a chance to show your children what true change and accountability look like.”18ABC7 News. Diddy Sentencing Hearing, Judge’s Remarks Ventura submitted a victim impact letter describing nightmares, flashbacks, and hypervigilance, and disclosed that she had moved her family away from New York out of fear of retribution.
Combs received credit for the roughly 12 months he had already served at MDC Brooklyn. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo accused the judge of acting as a “13th juror” by treating coercion as a sentencing factor when the jury had acquitted Combs of the charges that alleged it.17ABC7 Chicago. Diddy Sentencing Hearing Live Updates
The Appeal
Combs filed a notice of appeal on October 21, 2025. Before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, his team argued that Judge Subramanian improperly considered acquitted conduct at sentencing, that the underlying conduct is protected by the First Amendment, and that the Mann Act’s prohibition on transporting individuals for prostitution should not apply on these facts. The defense also argued that a 50-month sentence was far harsher than the roughly 15-month sentences typical for similar prostitution-related convictions.19CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Appeals Court Oral arguments took place on April 9, 2026. Reuters reported that the appellate panel appeared “torn” on the issues, and the court has not issued a ruling as of mid-2026.20Reuters. Sean Diddy Combs Lawyers Urge Appeals Court to Overturn Conviction
Where Combs Is Now
On October 30, 2025, Combs was transferred from MDC Brooklyn to Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution, a low-security facility in New Jersey. His attorneys had sought the transfer for its drug treatment programs, safety, and proximity to family. Judge Subramanian recommended he be considered for the Bureau of Prisons’ Residential Drug Abuse Program.21The New York Times. Sean Combs Diddy Prison He is housed in a special unit for inmates in drug treatment and has been assigned to work as a chaplain’s assistant. Reports have surfaced of minor disciplinary issues, including a violation for making an unauthorized three-way phone call and an allegation of possessing homemade alcohol, which his representatives denied.22Fox 5 NY. Diddy NJ Prison His projected release date is April 25, 2028.1E! Online. Sean Diddy Combs Prison Release Date Moved Up
Civil Suits and Other Investigations
The federal criminal case is not the full legal picture. Civil lawsuits against Combs continue to accumulate. Houston attorney Tony Buzbee has said he represents more than 120 individuals, with cases filed individually in state and federal courts in New York and filings planned or underway in Nevada and California.23Click2Houston. Houston Attorney Tony Buzbee Expands Lawsuits Against Sean Diddy Combs A December 2024 lawsuit naming both Combs and Jay-Z was withdrawn in February 2025 after the anonymous plaintiff dropped the case.24Houston Public Media. Tony Buzbee Withdraws From Diddy Lawsuit in NY In June 2026, a former child actor filed suit in California alleging Combs sexually assaulted him at a 2007 event when the plaintiff was a minor.25CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Lawsuit Child Actor
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has been reviewing two sexual assault cases against Combs since the fall of 2025, based on investigations presented by the LAPD and the LA County Sheriff’s Department. The cases involve allegations by music publicist Jonathan Hay regarding incidents in 2020 and 2021. No charging decision has been made as of June 2026.26Los Angeles Times. Sean Diddy Combs Sex Assault Cases Under LA DA Review
Ventura herself faces litigation. In July 2025, a former male escort named Clayton Howard sued her, alleging he contracted a sexually transmitted disease during “freak offs” involving Ventura and Combs and that Ventura underwent an abortion without informing him. She has moved to dismiss the suit. As of June 2026, Ventura has relocated outside the United States and has said she does not intend to return.27Page Six. Cassie Ventura Flees US With No Intention to Return
The Business Fallout
The case and surrounding allegations dismantled much of Combs’s business empire. Forbes estimated his net worth at $400 million as of 2024, roughly half its 2019 peak of $740 million.28Forbes. Inside the Rubble of Diddy’s Empire Diageo ended its partnership with Combs in June 2023, paying him $200 million for his equity in the DeLeón tequila brand. By early 2024, he had sold his stake in Revolt TV, whose enterprise value an investment banker placed below $200 million despite a prior $405 million valuation. Macy’s dropped the Sean John fashion brand, which lost its retail distribution and, in Forbes’s assessment, became “virtually worthless.” Experts said Combs faces lasting difficulty booking venues, securing endorsements, and maintaining business partnerships regardless of legal outcomes.29ABC News. What Will Happen to Sean Diddy Combs’ Wealth