Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted in July 2025 of two federal counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act, and acquitted of the more serious charges against him: racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking. A jury in the Southern District of New York found that he had arranged for two former girlfriends and paid male escorts to travel across state lines for sexual encounters. 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.1BBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Guilty Verdict2NBC News. Diddy Sentencing Live Updates
The Two Counts He Was Convicted Of
Both guilty counts charged violations of the Mann Act, a 1910 federal law that criminalizes transporting a person across state lines for prostitution or other prohibited sexual activity.3PBS NewsHour. What Is the Mann Act Each count corresponded to a different woman. One involved Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, the singer and Combs’ former longtime girlfriend. The other involved a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane.”4New York Times. Sean Diddy Combs Trial Timeline Testimony
The jury accepted that Combs arranged interstate travel for the two women and for hired male sex workers to attend the drug-fueled sexual encounters prosecutors called “freak offs.” Airline tickets and hotel bookings paid through corporate accounts of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide were part of the evidence supporting those counts.5ABC News. Sean Diddy Combs Trial Day 29 Recap
Each Mann Act count carried a statutory maximum of ten years. The second count had been added by prosecutors in a superseding indictment filed in April 2025, which expanded the case to five total counts and brought in the additional victim.6NPR. Sean Diddy Combs New Trafficking Charges7U.S. Department of Justice. Sean Combs Charged in Manhattan Federal Court With Sex Trafficking and Other Federal Offenses
The Charges He Was Acquitted Of
The jury found Combs not guilty on three counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Those were the charges that had carried potential life sentences.7U.S. Department of Justice. Sean Combs Charged in Manhattan Federal Court With Sex Trafficking and Other Federal Offenses
The racketeering acquittal also swept away a set of related allegations that prosecutors had folded into that count, including drug distribution, bribery, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. None of those resulted in convictions.8PBS NewsHour. Sean Diddy Combs Acquitted of Most Serious Charges
The distinction between what jurors accepted and what they rejected matters. They agreed Combs paid for interstate travel connected to prostitution. They did not agree that the women were trafficked by force, fraud, or coercion, or that his conduct amounted to a criminal enterprise.
How the Jury Reached the Split Verdict
The trial before Judge Subramanian ran eight weeks in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, with an anonymous jury of eight men and four women.9New York Times. Sean Combs Diddy Sentencing Deliberations took more than 13 hours over three days before the verdict was delivered on July 2, 2025.10BBC News. Sean Diddy Combs Verdict Details
The racketeering count was the sticking point. Jurors initially reported themselves deadlocked, with what they described as “unpersuadable” opinions on both sides, before ultimately returning a not-guilty verdict.8PBS NewsHour. Sean Diddy Combs Acquitted of Most Serious Charges
Combs pleaded not guilty and did not testify. His defense team rested in about 30 minutes without calling a single witness, choosing instead to have an attorney read exhibits into the record. Combs confirmed to Judge Subramanian that the decision not to take the stand was “totally my decision.”11Deadline. Diddy Trial Defense Rests Sean Combs Not Testifying In opening statements, defense attorney Teny Geragos conceded that Combs was “a swinger, a drug user, a domestic abuser and hard to like,” but argued that none of that amounted to federal crimes. Text messages in which Ventura and Jane expressed enthusiasm about the encounters were central to the consent argument.12NPR. Sean Combs Diddy Trial Guilty Two Counts
The Sentence
At sentencing on October 3, 2025, the parties were far apart. Prosecutors asked for at least 135 months, calling Combs “unrepentant” and arguing that only a substantial term would deter wealthy or famous abusers. The defense asked for 14 months, which would have amounted to time served, describing Combs as a “changed man” who had gotten sober in jail. The U.S. probation department recommended five to seven years.13The Guardian. Sean Diddy Combs Sentence Recommendation14CNN. Diddy Trial Prosecutors Sentencing Request
Judge Subramanian imposed 50 months in prison, a $500,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. Combs received credit for the roughly 12 months he had already spent in custody since his September 2024 arrest. The judge cited the “repeated nature” of the crimes and the violence toward former partners, saying the sentence was meant to signal to domestic abuse survivors that “violence against women is met with real accountability.”15ABC News. Sean Diddy Combs Sentencing
Ventura submitted a three-page victim impact statement describing lasting trauma, nightmares, flashbacks, and suicidal thoughts, and wrote that she still feared “swift retribution” from Combs.16Rolling Stone. Sean Diddy Combs Sentencing Cassie Ventura Letter A former assistant who testified under the pseudonym “Mia” had been scheduled to speak in person but did not appear. Prosecutors alleged she was intimidated by a letter from Combs’ defense team, which Judge Subramanian called “inappropriate” in tone.17New York Post. Only Victim Set to Speak at Combs Sentencing Was Scared Off
Where He Is Being Held
From his arrest in September 2024 through sentencing, Combs was held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, placed in the special housing unit and confined to his cell up to 23 hours a day. A judge had denied bail shortly after his arrest, citing risks of witness tampering and flight.18NPR. Inside the Brooklyn Jail Where Sean Combs Is Locked Up
On October 30, 2025, he was transferred to FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey, where he is serving his sentence.19CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Checks Into Prison
The Appeal
Combs is challenging both the conviction and the sentence. His appellate team, led by attorney Alexandra Shapiro, secured a fast-track schedule in November 2025, and the case was fully briefed by early 2026.20Deadline. Sean Combs Appeal Fast Track Approved
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on April 9, 2026. The defense raised three main grounds:
- That Judge Subramanian improperly relied on evidence tied to the racketeering and sex trafficking counts, of which Combs was acquitted, when applying “coercion” and “leadership” enhancements that drove the sentence up to 50 months.
- That his conduct did not fall within the Mann Act’s prohibition on transportation for prostitution, and that the statute should not reach what the defense characterized as consensual activity.
- That the sexual behavior at issue was protected by the First Amendment.
During the hearing, Judge William Nardini called it an “exceptionally difficult case” and a “question of first impression, not only for this court, but apparently for any federal court of appeals in the country.” The panel reserved its decision, and as of mid-2026, no ruling has been issued.21CNN. Sean Diddy Combs Appeals Court22CourtListener. United States of America v. Combs Appeal Docket
Civil Cases Remain Separate
The federal conviction is not the entirety of Combs’ legal exposure. He has been sued dozens of times by accusers alleging sexual assault, physical violence, and related misconduct. Houston attorney Tony Buzbee announced in October 2024 that he represented more than 120 individuals with claims against Combs, some alleging they were minors at the time, and by late 2024 had filed roughly 20 lawsuits with allegations spanning about 20 years.23BBC News. Diddy Mass Litigation Tony Buzbee New civil suits continue to be filed; in June 2026, an unnamed former child actor sued Combs in Los Angeles County Superior Court over an alleged 2007 assault.24Forbes. Sean Diddy Combs Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault of Minor Combs has denied wrongdoing in the civil matters. Those cases proceed on their own tracks and are not resolved by the criminal verdict.