Sean “Diddy” Combs went on trial in Manhattan federal court in May 2025 on five counts, and on July 2, 2025, a jury convicted him of two Mann Act counts of transportation to engage in prostitution while acquitting him of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him on October 3, 2025, to 50 months in federal prison, a $500,000 fine, and five years of supervised release.1NBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Faces Strict Conditions, 50-Month Prison Sentence He is serving that sentence at FCI Fort Dix while his appeal is pending before the Second Circuit.
The Charges He Faced
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment unsealed on September 17, 2024. The original three counts were racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act.2U.S. Department of Justice. Sean Combs Charged in Manhattan Federal Court With Sex Trafficking and Other Federal Offenses A superseding indictment added a second sex trafficking count and a second Mann Act count, bringing the total to five.3The Guardian. Diddy Trial Closing Arguments
The exposure was severe. Racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking each carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, with the trafficking counts also carrying a 15-year mandatory minimum. The Mann Act counts carried a statutory maximum of 10 years each.
How the Case Got to Trial
The federal investigation grew out of a November 2023 civil lawsuit by singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’s former girlfriend, who alleged rape, years of physical and mental abuse, forced sex acts with male sex workers at events Combs called “freak-offs,” drugging, and nonconsensual recording of sexual encounters. The suit settled within days for $20 million; Combs’s attorney at the time said the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”4NBC News. Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura Reach Settlement A wave of additional civil suits followed, and prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opened a criminal investigation.
On March 25, 2024, Homeland Security Investigations agents executed search warrants at Combs’s Los Angeles and Miami homes.5CNBC. Feds Raid Sean Combs Properties in LA, Miami on Search Warrants Out of New York Searches turned up parts of two AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers, a loaded handgun, drugs including MDMA and ketamine, and sexual supplies.6ABC News. Who Testified at Sean Diddy Combs Trial Recap Combs was arrested in a midtown Manhattan hotel lobby on September 16, 2024.7NPR. Sean Diddy Combs Faces Federal Charges in New York
He pleaded not guilty and was denied bail four times before trial. The final pretrial denial, from Judge Subramanian in November 2024, cited “compelling evidence of Combs’ propensity for violence,” a “strong risk of witness tampering,” and evidence that Combs had violated Bureau of Prisons communication rules to evade monitoring.8Courthouse News Service. Diddy’s Bid for Bail Rejected a Fourth Time He was held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn through the trial.
What the Jury Heard
The trial began in May 2025 and ran about eight weeks before Judge Subramanian. Prosecutors called 34 witnesses over six weeks.6ABC News. Who Testified at Sean Diddy Combs Trial Recap
The government’s theory centered on the “freak-offs,” drug-fueled sexual encounters that Combs organized in hotel rooms and that sometimes lasted for days. Prosecutors introduced hotel invoices, flight records, and text messages showing Combs arranged for his girlfriends and male sex workers to be flown across the country for these events. Jurors saw nearly 20 minutes of explicit video recordings from 2012 and 2014.9Court TV. Freak Off Videos, Juror Dismissed
Ventura testified for four days. She described a decade-long pattern of trafficking, physical abuse, rape, and control, and said Combs directed the encounters down to lighting and positioning. Jurors also watched 2016 surveillance footage from the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, California, showing Combs grabbing, throwing, and dragging Ventura in a hallway; she testified she had been trying to leave a freak-off when the assault happened.10NPR. Sean Combs Trial Prosecution Rests Case
Singer Dawn Richard testified that she had witnessed Combs assault Ventura in 2009, including punching her with a closed fist and attempting to hit her with a skillet, and that Combs threatened the next day that she and another witness “could go missing” if they talked.11PBS NewsHour. Singer Dawn Richard Says Sean Combs Threatened to Make Her Disappear Musician Kid Cudi told jurors he suspected Combs had orchestrated a break-in at his home and the firebombing of his car with a Molotov cocktail. A former hotel security supervisor testified that Combs paid him $100,000 to obtain the 2016 surveillance footage, and Ventura’s mother testified her family had paid Combs $20,000 in 2011 after he threatened to release sexually explicit videos of her daughter.10NPR. Sean Combs Trial Prosecution Rests Case Prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors in rebuttal that “for 20 years, the defendant got away with his crimes. That ends in this courtroom.”12ABC News. Sean Diddy Combs Trial Live Updates
Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo argued the sexual activity was consensual and characterized Combs as a member of the “swingers lifestyle.”13Variety. Diddy Trial Ends, Defense Asks Jury to Acquit Sean Combs The defense conceded instances of domestic violence against Ventura but argued those acts were separate from the charged conduct and were not part of any criminal enterprise. Agnifilo also noted that no one else had been charged as a member of the alleged racketeering enterprise, and argued Combs had paid male escorts for their time, not for sex.3The Guardian. Diddy Trial Closing Arguments
The Verdict
The jury began deliberating on June 30, 2025. On July 1, jurors said they had reached a verdict on four counts but were deadlocked on racketeering conspiracy; Judge Subramanian instructed them to keep going, and they returned a unanimous verdict on all five counts the next day.14ABC News. Sean Combs Guilty on 2 of 5 Counts, Acquitted of Racketeering
Combs was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and not guilty on both sex trafficking counts. He was found guilty on both counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act. The acquittals took a life sentence off the table; each Mann Act count carried a 10-year statutory maximum.15ABC7 New York. Diddy Trial Jury Verdict
The 50-Month Sentence
Judge Subramanian imposed 50 months in prison, a $500,000 fine, and five years of supervised release on October 3, 2025.16CBS News. Diddy Sentencing Hearing Combs received credit for the roughly 13 months he had already spent in custody since his arrest. The sentence fell well below the 11 years and three months prosecutors had sought and well above the roughly 14 months the defense had requested.17The Wall Street Journal. Prison Time for Something Diddy Didn’t Do, Acquitted Conduct
The judge cited the repeated nature of the conduct and violence toward former partners, said Combs had not shown remorse, and stated the sentence was meant to send a message that “violence against women is met with real accountability.”18ABC7 New York. Diddy Sentencing Hearing Live Updates
The five-year supervised release term carries strict conditions: regular meetings with a probation officer, drug testing and an outpatient drug-abuse program, mental health treatment, an approved domestic violence program, a firearms prohibition, and a requirement to work at least 30 hours a week. Combs must also consent to searches of his person, home, vehicle, computers, and cellphones on reasonable suspicion of a violation.1NBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Faces Strict Conditions, 50-Month Prison Sentence
The Acquitted-Conduct Fight
The sentence drew immediate controversy because Judge Subramanian said explicitly that he was permitted to consider “acquitted conduct.” He weighed evidence tied to the racketeering and sex trafficking charges the jury had rejected, reasoning that the evidence was “relevant context to demonstrate the force Combs used to carry out the prostitution-related crimes,” and he identified the seven male escorts Combs paid as victims.18ABC7 New York. Diddy Sentencing Hearing Live Updates
Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro accused the judge of acting as a “13th juror” and argued the sentence was “driven by the conduct the jury rejected.” Attorney Teny Geragos said the trafficking acquittals meant the jury had concluded Combs did not use force or coercion, making the sentence inconsistent with the verdict.19ABC News. Sean Diddy Combs Lawyers Allege Judge Acted as 13th Juror
The Appeal
Combs’s appellate team, led by Shapiro, was granted an expedited appeal in November 2025 by Second Circuit Judge Beth Robinson.20Deadline. Sean Combs Appeal Fast Track Approved The appeal challenges both the conviction and the sentence. The defense argues the trial judge improperly relied on acquitted conduct at sentencing and that the Mann Act convictions should be overturned on First Amendment grounds related to amateur pornography.21CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Appeals Court
Oral argument was held before a Second Circuit panel on April 9, 2026. Judge William Nardini called it an “exceptionally difficult case.” Prosecutors asked the panel to affirm the conviction and sentence, arguing the trial judge signaled he would have reached the same sentence regardless of the acquitted conduct. As of mid-2026, the panel had not ruled.22CourtListener. United States of America v. Combs, No. 25-2623
Where He Is Now
Combs was transferred on October 30, 2025, from MDC Brooklyn to FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. His legal team preferred the facility for its treatment programs and its proximity to his family, and he is participating in a drug-abuse rehabilitation program there.23Los Angeles Times. Sean Diddy Combs New Prison Release Date His anticipated release date is May 8, 2028, pending the outcome of the appeal.24NBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Prison Release
Civil Lawsuits Still Pending
The criminal trial does not end Combs’s legal exposure. According to USA Today, at least 70 civil lawsuits had been filed against him since November 2023.25USA Today. Diddy Timeline of Sexual Assault Lawsuits The New York Times reported that more than 50 remained active as of mid-2025, with allegations of sexual abuse, drugging, and rape dating back to the 1990s; at least a dozen plaintiffs allege the assaults occurred when they were minors, and many have filed anonymously. Combs’s counsel Erica Wolff has called the civil suits “fabricated attempts to extort windfall payments,” and Combs maintains he “never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone.”26The New York Times. Sean Combs Diddy Civil Lawsuits