Sean “Diddy” Combs, who turned a career as a music producer into a portfolio of businesses worth a billion dollars, has been found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering but convicted of a prostitution charges after prosecutors said he coerced women into sexual encounters with male escorts.

The jury, made of eight men and four women, deliberated for nearly 14 hours after the 29-day trial on two-counts of sex trafficking, two-counts of transportation for prostitution, and racketeering charges. 

The 55-year-old will remain in federal jail as he awaits sentencing on Oct. 3. The prostitution-related conviction alone carries a maximum sentence of 10 years for each charge. 

Federal investigators in New York accused Combs of transforming Bad Boy Records, the label he founded in 1993, into a criminal enterprise. The indictment alleged sex trafficking, arson, and both emotional and physical abuse. He was indicted by a grand jury in September 2024 and has remained in federal custody since, following multiple unsuccessful attempts to post a $50 million bond.

During the nearly two-month trial, a predominantly male jury heard testimony from nearly three dozen witnesses, including former employees and associates of Combs such as Dawn Richard of the R&B-pop group Danity Kane, and Scott Mescudi, known professionally as rapper Kid Cudi. Jurors were also shown 2016 surveillance footage where Combs attacked and dragged his then girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, across a hotel hallway carpet.

Several high-profile supporters, including Kanye West and members of Combs’ family, made appearances at the Lower Manhattan courthouse during the proceedings.

Combs’ defense team opted not to present a case, but made at least two failed petitions for a mistrial — once citing prosecutorial misconduct. The judge denied both requests.

Among the trial’s testimony were accounts from Ventura, and an unidentified woman, who said they were in an exclusive romantic relationship with Combs at different times. Both described being coerced into traveling across the country to participate in group sex acts that prosecutors said involved drugs and alcohol. These encounters — referred to in court as “Freak Offs” — were recorded on video. Prosecutors played excerpts of the recordings for jurors during the trial.

During the trial’s first week, Ventura — the prosecution’s lead witness — took the stand. Her 2023 lawsuit, which accused Combs of rape and coercion, is widely believed to have triggered the federal investigation. She testified that the suit resulted in a $20 million settlement.

Ventura delivered much of her testimony through tears as she recounted her decade-long relationship with Combs. At the time, she was a 19-year-old aspiring singer from Connecticut, pursuing a career in music. Ventura, 38, is now married, and took the stand weeks before delivering her third child.

“I can’t carry this anymore. I can’t carry the shame, the guilt,” Ventura said during her testimony in May, explaining why she chose to testify against Combs. “What’s right is right. What’s wrong is wrong. I’m trying to do the right thing.”

She testified that Combs used recordings of intimate encounters involving her, himself, and others to threaten her after their relationship ended. She said that he threatened to release the footage when she began dating other men, including Mescudi.

“He just wanted to hurt me,” Ventura said about Combs, according to trial testimony reported by multiple media outlets. “It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone.”

Weeks before prosecutors rested their case on June 27, a former romantic partner of Combs testified under the pseudonym “Jane” and discussed a series of text messages exchanged between the former couple. In one 2023 message, she wrote that she felt “obligated to perform these nights” with him “out of fear of losing the roof” over her head.