Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted in July 2025 on two federal counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution and acquitted of the more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. He was sentenced on October 3, 2025 to 50 months in federal prison, and he is now serving that sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey with a projected release date of February 23, 2028. His appeal is pending before the Second Circuit.
The Charges He Faced
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment against Combs on September 17, 2024, charging him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.1U.S. Department of Justice. Sean Combs Charged in Manhattan Federal Court The racketeering and sex trafficking counts each carried a possible life sentence.2U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Combs, Sealed Indictment
The government alleged that Combs had run a criminal enterprise since at least 2008, using employees and business resources to arrange what the indictment called “Freak Offs” — drug-fueled sexual encounters with commercial sex workers that Combs directed and recorded.3CNN. Takeaways From the Sean Diddy Combs Indictment Prosecutors said he used violence, threats, and narcotics to coerce participation and kept recordings as leverage against victims.4The New York Times. Sean Combs Indicted on Federal Charges
A superseding indictment filed on April 3, 2025 expanded the case to five counts, adding a second sex trafficking count and a second prostitution transportation count tied to a woman identified as “Victim-2.” The updated racketeering allegations included a claim that Combs had dangled a female victim over an apartment balcony and displayed a firearm.5ABC News. Sean Diddy Combs Federal Prosecutors File Third Superseding Indictment
What the Jury Decided
The trial opened in May 2025 before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan and ran about six weeks. Prosecutors called 34 witnesses. The defense called none.6ABC News. Sean Combs Guilty on 2 of 5 Counts, Acquitted of Racketeering
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’ former girlfriend, testified over four days, describing physical abuse and coercive sexual encounters and telling the jury she had complied “out of fear and a desire to please him.”7The New York Times. Diddy Sean Combs Trial Sex Trafficking Jurors also saw 2016 hotel surveillance footage of Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in a hallway at the InterContinental in Los Angeles.8Courthouse News Service. Jury Hears Freak Off Details to Open Diddy Sex Trafficking Trial Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo acknowledged that Combs had been violent toward Ventura but framed the sexual encounters as consensual activity within what he called a “swingers lifestyle,” arguing that no criminal enterprise existed because no one else had been charged as a co-conspirator.9The Guardian. Diddy Trial Closing Arguments
On July 2, 2025, the jury returned a split verdict. Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and both sex trafficking counts. He was convicted on both counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act, one relating to Ventura and one to a witness identified as “Jane.” Each count carries a maximum of ten years. Judge Subramanian denied bail after the verdict, citing Combs’ “propensity for violence” and referencing the 2016 hotel footage.6ABC News. Sean Combs Guilty on 2 of 5 Counts, Acquitted of Racketeering
The 50-Month Sentence
Sentencing took place on October 3, 2025. Prosecutors asked for 135 months, roughly eleven years, arguing that the sentence should account for the coercive conduct underlying the acquitted charges. The defense asked for time served, about 13 months. Judge Subramanian imposed 50 months in prison, a $500,000 fine, and five years of supervised release.10NBC New York. Diddy Court Sentencing Live Updates
Addressing Combs from the bench, the judge said: “You abused them, physically, emotionally and psychologically. Why did it happen for so long? Because you had the power and resources to keep it going, and because you didn’t get caught.” Combs told the court he was “truly sorry,” saying he had “got lost in excess” and “got lost in my ego.”11The Guardian. Sean Diddy Combs Court Judge Sentencing
Days earlier, on September 30, 2025, Judge Subramanian had denied defense motions for a new trial or acquittal, finding that the government presented “overwhelming evidence” of guilt on the Mann Act counts.12Deadline. Diddy Denied New Trial
Where He Is Now
On October 30, 2025, Combs was transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he had been held for 13 months, to FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, a low-security federal prison of roughly 4,000 inmates. His attorneys had requested the placement so he could enter the facility’s Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program and be closer to family.13NBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Federal Prison Inmates who complete RDAP can receive up to a one-year sentence reduction from the Bureau of Prisons.14CBS News. Sean Diddy Combs Prison Chapel Drug Rehab Phone Call
His projected release date has moved several times as the Bureau recalculates. Initially set for June 2028, it shifted to May 2028, then April 2028, and as of June 2026 stood at February 23, 2028.15Los Angeles Times. Sean Diddy Combs New Prison Release Date
The Appeal and Pardon Request
Combs is appealing both his conviction and his sentence. A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on April 9, 2026. Appellate attorney Alexandra Shapiro argued that the 50-month sentence was excessive and that Judge Subramanian had improperly relied on evidence of coercion and fraud that the jury rejected when it acquitted him of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges.16NY1. Appeals Court Judges Raise Questions About Severity of Sean Diddy Combs Prison Sentence The defense also contends that the conviction should be overturned on First Amendment grounds, arguing the filmed sexual encounters were protected expression. The government responded that the sentence fell below federal guidelines and was consistent with similar convictions.17ABC News. Federal Appeals Court Hears Arguments on Overturning Sean Diddy Combs Conviction As of mid-2026, the panel has not ruled.
Combs also asked President Donald Trump for a pardon. Trump confirmed the request in October 2025, telling reporters, “A lot of people have asked me for pardons. I call him Puff Daddy, [he] has asked me for a pardon.”18ABC News. Trump Says Sean Diddy Combs Asked for Pardon In a January 2026 interview with the New York Times, Trump said he was “not considering” granting it.19Variety. Sean Diddy Combs Requested Pardon, Trump Confirms
Civil Lawsuits Still Pending
Alongside the criminal case, Combs faces a large volume of civil litigation. As of mid-2026, more than 70 lawsuits have been filed against him alleging sexual assault, abuse, and trafficking, with claims dating as far back as 1991.20USA Today. Sean Diddy Combs List of Accusers and Lawsuits Texas attorney Tony Buzbee alone represents 120 accusers and has filed dozens of suits, primarily in state courts. Many of those cases were effectively paused during the criminal trial because Combs could not be compelled to testify in civil proceedings without implicating his Fifth Amendment rights.21BBC. Diddy Civil Lawsuits Status
Not all of the civil claims have survived. In June 2026, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed 17 of 18 claims brought by singer Dawn Richard as time-barred, noting the alleged conduct “ceased in 2011 or 2012.” The remaining claim, under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Act, was dismissed without prejudice so Richard could refile in state court.22USA Today. Dawn Richard Danity Kane Diddy Lawsuit Dismissed A plaintiff who alleged assault at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards dropped her lawsuit with prejudice in February 2025; she and Buzbee are now being sued for defamation by Jay-Z, who had been named as a co-defendant.20USA Today. Sean Diddy Combs List of Accusers and Lawsuits In June 2026, an unnamed former child actor filed suit in Los Angeles alleging that Combs sexually assaulted him at a Hollywood networking event in 2007, when the plaintiff was a minor.23Forbes. Sean Diddy Combs Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault of Minor
Combs has denied wrongdoing in all civil suits, with his representatives calling various claims “purely fictional” and “manufactured.”
Other Investigations and Suits
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed in June 2026 that it is reviewing two separate sexual assault investigations involving Florida-based music producer Jonathan Hay, who alleges Combs assaulted him in Los Angeles in 2020 and again in 2021. The cases were referred by the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in early 2026, and no charging decision had been announced as of June 2026.24Los Angeles Times. Sean Diddy Combs Sex Assault Cases Los Angeles DA Review Combs’ civil attorney, Jonathan Davis, said his client “categorically denies as false and defamatory all claims that he sexually abused anyone.”25Deadline. Diddy Sexual Battery Los Angeles
A $100 million defamation lawsuit Combs filed in February 2025 against NBCUniversal over the documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy was dismissed in April 2026. New York Supreme Court Judge Phaedra F. Perry-Bond ruled that Combs failed to establish reputational harm, finding his reputation had already been “tarnished by the numerous lawsuits, domestic violence video, press coverage, and a criminal indictment prior to the Documentary’s publication.” The judge also called the documentary “carefully curated and nuanced.”26Deadline. Sean Combs NBC Lawsuit Dismissed