Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail; found not guilty of top charges of racketeering and sex trafficking but convicted of prostitution charges

A Manhattan federal judge denied bail for Sean "Diddy" Combs on Wednesday after a jury acquitted him of top charges of carrying on a 20-year conspiracy to coerce former girlfriends to have dayslong, drug-fueled sex marathons with male escorts.

The Bad Boy Records founder, however, was convicted on two lesser prostitution related charges, which prosecutors say will likely carry a maximum sentence of 5¼ years behind bars.

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian rejected defense attorneys’ arguments that Combs posed no danger if released prior to his sentencing.

The jury cleared Combs, 55, of a top count of running a criminal enterprise that involved arson, kidnapping, bribery, drug distribution, sex trafficking and transporting male prostitutes across state lines.

Former girlfriend Casandra Ventura testified that during a sex marathon in the Hamptons she was given so much ecstasy that she lost consciousness and awoke to Combs and an assistant trying to revive her in the shower.

Combs faced a life sentence for the top racketeering conspiracy charge and a 15-year sentence for each of the two sex trafficking charges.

He was convicted of two violations of the Mann Act, transporting male escorts, Ventura and a witness identified only as "Jane" for the purpose of prostitution.

After the verdict Combs, dressed in a beige V-neck, pressed his hands together and mouthed the words "Thank you, thank you" to the jurors as they sat listening to the judge's admonishment not to speak to the media once they are released.

Combs' mother and his six adult children bounced in their seats in the gallery and he turned to them from the defense table and said, "I'm coming home."

Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo had immediately requested Combs be released on $1 million bail with conditions.

"In light of the fact that the charges for which he stands convicted are vastly different than the nature of the sex trafficking, a considerable change in bail conditions is warranted," he said. "He has been acquitted of very, very serious charges and he has been convicted of less serious charges."

Agnifilo said the defense team would turn over Combs' passport and agree to limit his travel to Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

Agnifilo noted his client had made preparations to come to New York ahead of his arrest and been a model inmate during his 10-month incarceration leading up to the trial.

"He's not going to flee," the attorney said. "The jury has given him his life back."

Agnifilo also argued extraordinary circumstances — his mother's health, his adult children's welfare — made his release a necessity.

"The only thing extraordinary about this man is his wealth, his violence and his brazenness," lead prosecutor Maurene Comey countered.

She noted there were multiple instances of domestic violence against his partners, even after he knew he was under investigation.

"The overwhelming evidence established at trial — which the defendant did not dispute — shows that the defendant has engaged in a yearslong pattern of abuse and violence, including as recently as in June 2024, approximately three months before his arrest in this case," prosecutors argued in a letter to the judge.

Though Comey won the detention argument, the verdicts dealt a major blow to federal prosecutors.

"Sex crimes deeply scar victims, and the disturbing reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects of our society," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and Ricky Patel, the head of the New York field office for the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint email statement out after the verdict. "Victims endure gut-wrenching physical and mental abuse, leading to lasting trauma. New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped and perpetrators brought to justice."

After the judge denied the bail application, Agnifilo addressed the media outside the courthouse.

"Today was a major, major step in the right direction, but we fight on, and we're going to win, and we're not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family."

Subramanian set a tentative date in October for sentencing, but defense lawyers asked that it be held sooner. On Tuesday, they return to court to argue for an earlier date.

Earlier in the day, Subramanian said the jury had submitted a note at 9:52 a.m. Wednesday that read "we have reached a verdict on all counts."

The jury was escorted into the courtroom at 10:15 a.m.

"Members of the jury, we have received your most recent note stating you have reached a verdict," Subramanian said. "Juror No. 5, our foreperson, is the verdict unanimous?" the judge asked.

"It is," Juror No. 5 responded.

The panel of four women and eight men spent three days poring over the evidence after seven weeks of testimony in the case.

 
 

Jurors heard from 34 witnesses, including two male escorts, federal agents, former personal assistants and two women — former girlfriends of Combs who described at first willingly taking ecstasy and having sex with strangers in front of the hip-hop mogul.

The women, former pop singer Ventura, who performed under the name "Cassie," and "Jane," a pseudonym used to protect her identity as an alleged sex-crime victim, said that within months of their relationships with Combs, the group sex — dubbed "freak-offs," "wild king nights" or "hotel nights" — became a weekly occurrence.

Prosecutors charged Combs drafted the staff of his global music, fashion and liquor conglomerate to set up and pay for the sex binges. Both Ventura and Jane testified they flew across the country with packages of drugs — ecstasy, cocaine, mushrooms, ketamine and a narcotic cocktail called "Tusi" that would help them stay awake and engaged during the marathon sex sessions.

Ventura testified she and Combs would sometimes receive intravenous fluids to rehydrate and recover after "freak-offs."

Escort Daniel Phillip testified he was paid up to $4,000 after having sex with Ventura as Combs watched and recorded. Combs copied Phillip's driver’s license "for insurance."

"I took that as a threat," he said.

Phillip said the "freak-offs" with Combs and Ventura became a semi-regular occurrence until he saw the hip-hop entrepreneur beat Ventura after she failed to respond to him quickly enough. Phillips said he had trouble performing after witnessing the beating and they stopped calling him.

Jurors saw headshots of 27 men — with pseudonyms such as "The Italian," "The Unknown Cowboy" and "The Punisher" — who prosecutors said were part of the sex episodes.

To convict Combs of racketeering, the jury had to believe his enterprise had broken two other laws that supported the criminal conspiracy.

They heard testimony regarding charges of kidnapping, arson, witness tampering, drug distribution, sex trafficking, bribery and forced labor.

Former Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified she racked up $85,000 in overtime pay working long hours for Combs, but was never paid.

Once, when jewelry on loan to Combs went missing, Clark said she was locked in an office every day for a week and given a lie-detector test.

"If you fail this test, they’re going to throw you in the East River," she said the man administering the test told her.

There were other threats and bouts of violence against Ventura, Jane and staffers, testimony showed.

Prosecutors repeatedly played a 2016 surveillance video from the Intercontinental hotel that showed Combs attacking Ventura at the elevator bank when she left in the middle of a "freak-off."

Combs’ chief of staff and security personnel went into high gear trying to suppress the footage, according to testimony. Former security guard Eddie Garcia testified Combs paid him $100,000 in cash for a thumb drive of the footage.

It resurfaced, however, when Ventura filed a federal lawsuit alleging sex trafficking and rape against Combs in November 2023.

Combs settled the case in a matter of days, paying Ventura $20 million. Ventura garnered $10 million from another civil suit against the hotel.

When Combs believed Ventura was dating rapper Kid Cudi in December 2011, she said he awakened her one morning with a gun in his hand, demanding she get dressed and come with him to Cudi’s house.

Cudi, whose given name is Scott Mescudi, testified Combs broke into his house during the episode and then firebombed his car with a Molotov cocktail.

Another personal assistant, who testified under the pseudonym "Mia," said she was raped and sexually assaulted repeatedly by Combs during her time working with him.

Defense lawyers questioned the veracity of the witnesses, referencing text messages from Ventura and Jane to Combs indicating they not only enjoyed the sex sessions but they sometimes initiated them.

Agnifilo, during his closing arguments, described the case as government overreach into Combs' private life.

"It’s a lifestyle. You'll want to call it swingers, you'll want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that's what it is," Agnifilo told the jury.

He acknowledged there were times when Combs got violent, but argued that domestic violence is not a federal crime.

There was an early indication of turmoil in the jury room. In the first hour of deliberation, the panel sent a note to the judge saying one of the jurors "cannot follow your honor’s instructions."

They worked through their differences after an encouraging letter from the judge.

The jury also asked about interpreting drug distribution laws and wanted to revisit testimony regarding an alleged incident of physical abuse of Ventura and a plane trip from France during which Combs threatened to release footage of "freak-offs" to the public.