Hip-hop icon Sean Combs was stunningly acquitted Wednesday on federal charges of forcing his former lovers to live out his degrading sexual fantasies \u2014 but found guilty of lesser prostitution raps.<\/p>\n
Combs, better known by his stage name Diddy, dodged charges that carried a possible life sentence after a two-month trial that revealed twisted details about the mogul, including his preference for \u201cfreak-offs\u201d \u2014 watching his girlfriends have grueling, drug-fueled sex romps with male escorts.<\/p>\n
The embattled entrepreneur, 55, had faced life in prison after being charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.<\/p>\n
The two-month trial revealed twisted details of the mogul\u2019s sex life. Combs pleaded not guilty. REUTERS<\/p>\n
But a jury convicted him only of prostitution charges stemming from shipping the escorts across state lines, which could send him to prison for up to 20 years.<\/p>\n
Jurors had deliberated for 13 hours total over three days, leading to a dramatic scene in a Manhattan federal courtroom Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Combs nodded his head repeatedly as the verdict was read out and pumped his fist as the jury cleared him on a sex-trafficking charge, saying \u201cthank you\u201d for being cleared on the most serious charge.<\/p>\n
He then held his hands in the prayer gesture and waved them in the direction of the jury approvingly.<\/p>\n
Diddy\u2019s family members react as they leave Manhattan federal court after the verdict was announced. AP<\/p>\n
The jury ultimately found Combs guilty of two Mann Act Transportation counts, which are prostitution charges, each carrying a maximum prison term of 10 years.<\/p>\n
After the verdict, Combs\u2019 lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked the judge to release the rapper from jail and into home confinement because he had been acquitted of the most serious charges.<\/p>\n
Follow The Post\u2019s live updates from Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs\u2019 sex trafficking trial in NYC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy proposal would be that he be released today, that he be permitted to live at his home in Florida,\u201d Agnifilo said. \u201cIt would be a bond of whatever size your honor sees fit, maybe $1 million?\u201d<\/p>\n Assistant District Attorney Maurene Comey opposed the request, arguing that Combs was still convicted of serious crimes and posed a danger.<\/p>\n A supporter of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs, reacts outside Manhattan federal court. AP<\/p>\n \u201cThere is serious, serious relevant conduct here that will merit a lengthy period of incarceration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Judge Arun Subramanian drily asked Combs if he wanted to go back to the notorious Brooklyn lockup that he\u2019s been held in since his September arrest.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Combs, you don\u2019t want to go back to the MDC?\u201d Subramanian asked.<\/p>\n The mogul shook his head several times and held up his hands in a prayer gesture toward the judge.<\/p>\n Subramanian likely will decide whether Combs should be released after he listens to legal arguments from the prosecution and defense at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n As the judge left the courtroom, Combs dropped to the floor on his hands and knees in prayer. <\/p>\n His family and supporters erupted in loud cheers \u2014 and several of his lawyers hugged each other \u2014 after he stood up and blew a kiss toward them.<\/p>\n Combs then exited the room through a side door as his family gave loud, supportive whistles.<\/p>\n The verdict is the latest twist in the downfall of a Harlem native who grew his Bad Boy Records label into an\u00a0empire worth nearly $1 billion<\/a>, became one of the music world\u2019s most recognizable figures, and hosted celebrity-packed \u201cwhite parties\u201d in glitzy locales like the Hamptons and Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n \u201cHe thought that his fame, wealth, and power put him above the law \u2014 but over the course of this trial, his crimes have been exposed,\u201d Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik told jurors in closing statements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prosecutors called 34 witnesses as they painted Combs as the kingpin of a crew that plotted a slew of crimes over two decades, including setting Kid Cudi\u2019s\u00a0<\/a>Porsche on fire and\u00a0breaking into his home<\/a>\u00a0in a jealous rage over the rapper\u2019s relationship with longtime on-and-off girlfriend Cassie Ventura.<\/p>\n The 12-person jury was repeatedly shown infamous surveillance video of Combs shoving, kicking, and dragging Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016 \u2014 and heard evidence that he bribed security guards<\/a> with $100,000 in a failed bid to bury the footage.<\/p>\n Ventura\u2019s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, celebrated Combs\u2019 conviction.<\/p>\n A woman in a \u201cA REAKO IS NOT RICO\u201d shirt reacts outside a courthouse following the Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs trial. REUTERS<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pleased that he\u2019s finally been held responsible for two federal crimes,\u201d Wigdor told reporters outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n \u201cHe still faces substantial jail time,\u201d the attorney noted of the 10 years that Diddy could get for each of the prostitution charges he was convicted of, for a total maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.<\/p>\n Jurors also heard evidence that Combs had multiple employees\u00a0buy him illegal drugs<\/a> and fly them across state lines for use during his sex romps.<\/p>\n A man holding a Sean John T-shirt, a company created by Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs, reacts outside the U.S. federal court. REUTERS<\/p>\n Combs \u2014 who has been held at a Brooklyn lockup since his September 2024 arrest at a Midtown hotel \u2014 did not testify during the sensational trial, which drew scores of observers to the courtroom, including the mogul\u2019s mother, children, and his supporters.<\/p>\n The \u201cAll About the Benjamins\u201d rapper<\/a> sat at the defense table throughout the trial in a revolving outfit of five muted sweaters over crisp white button-down shirts \u2014 and with his hair growing grayer by the day \u2014 in a striking shift from his snazzy looks featured on red carpets and celebrity parties.<\/p>\n Combs has maintained his innocence. His lawyers argued at trial that the women consented to the encounters<\/a>, that the feds improperly criminalized his \u201cswinger\u201d lifestyle, and that he was guilty of domestic abuse, but not the sex crimes he was charged with.<\/p>\n Diddy dodged charges that had the mogul facing life in prison. FilmMagic<\/p>\n \u201cHe did what he did,\u201d Combs\u2019 lead attorney Marc Agnifilo said in his closing statement. \u201cBut he\u2019s going to fight to the death to defend himself from what he didn\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n The jet-setting tycoon\u2019s fall from grace began when Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a bombshell November 2023 lawsuit<\/a> accusing Combs of forcing her into the \u201cfreak-offs\u201d and viciously beating her throughout their decade-long relationship.<\/p>\n Follow the latest on Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs\u2019 federal sex-trafficking trial:<\/p>\n Combs paid Ventura $20 million to settle the case<\/a> just one day later, but her allegations spurred the feds\u2019 criminal probe into Combs.<\/p>\n The case heated up with theatrical March 2024 raids on his Los Angeles and Miami mansions and the release of the shocking surveillance footage <\/a>showing Combs shoving, kicking, and dragging Ventura to the floor by her hair.<\/p>\n Combs had grown an empire of nearly $1 billion and hosted famous celebrity-packed parties before his sudden downfall. Bryan Bedder\/CP<\/p>\n Inside the packed lower Manhattan courtroom, the jury of eight men and four women heard evidence that Combs controlled every aspect of the marathon sex sessions, dictating his lovers\u2019 outfits, demanding that they apply copious amounts of baby oil and plying them with ecstasy so they could stay awake.<\/p>\n Ventura, 38, quietly wept as she told jurors excruciating details <\/a>about Combs beating her for years and pressuring her into the humiliating freak-off \u201cperformances.\u201d<\/p>\n At first, she consented to the sexual escapades, despite being \u201cconfused and nervous,\u201d because she loved Combs and \u201cwanted to make him happy,\u2019\u2019 Ventura testified.<\/p>\n The vicious hotel hallway beating of Cassie was part of the evidence shown at the trial. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Shattered glass and debris were scattered on a hotel room carpet after an altercation between Diddy and Cassie. via REUTERS<\/p>\n But the singer, whom Combs had signed to his record label, said she soon felt forced to yield to his demands that she have \u201chundreds\u201d of encounters with male sex workers.<\/p>\n The disgraced music producer threatened to release tapes of the \u201cfreak-offs\u201d if she stopped participating, said Ventura, who took the stand while nine months pregnant.<\/p>\n Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post\u2019s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI feared for my career. I feared for my family. It\u2019s just embarrassing. It\u2019s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,\u201d she testified.<\/p>\n Jane, who dated the globe-trotting impresario for a couple of years until his arrest, testified about numbing herself with drugs to endure \u201crobotically\u201d having sex with three escorts in a row at Combs\u2019 behest \u2014 after what she thought would be a quiet Miami birthday dinner date in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, I\u2019ve done so many of these that I just know how to tune out and get in a zone,\u201d she haltingly told jurors, wiping away tears from her face.<\/p>\n The evidence photo shows a drawer filled with numerous small bottles of lubricant and baby oil. Department of Justice<\/p>\n \u201cI just turn on this person,\u201d she added. \u201cI just put my thoughts away.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane, a social media influencer, repeatedly texted Combs that she wanted to stop the escort-filled encounters \u2014 once telling him \u201cI\u2019m not a porn star. I\u2019m not an animal\u201d \u2014 yet he kept pushing \u201cfreak-offs,\u201d or \u201chotel nights,\u201d on her until a month before his arrest, jurors heard.<\/p>\n In one of hundreds of text messages read in court, Combs made an implicit threat that he\u2019d stop paying Jane\u2019s rent if she didn\u2019t comply with his demands. <\/p>\n Guns found in Diddy\u2019s mansion. Department of Justice<\/p>\n