A Manhattan federal jury concluded the seven-week trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on 2 July, delivering a mixed verdict. Combs was found guilty on two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution—a violation of the Mann Act. However, he was acquitted of two sex trafficking charges and the racketeering conspiracy allegation.
The case, one of the most high-profile in recent US legal history, saw federal prosecutors accuse Combs of orchestrating “freak offs” — drug-fuelled sex parties involving paid escorts—coercion, abuse, blackmail and even kidnapping over decades. The prosecution presented 34 witnesses, including former partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, whose 2016 hotel assault video was central to the allegations.
Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty on all charges. The Mann Act convictions carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years per count. The jury remained deadlocked on the racketeering conspiracy charge, prompting Judge Subramanian to order continued deliberations—though the majority verdict stands.
The trial attracted intense media and online attention, with daily updates streamed from the courthouse steps and courtroom insights shared by legal analysts. The jury, composed of eight men and four women, was instructed to keep weighing the unresolved charge even after reaching agreement on the others.
Notable testimony came from Ventura and another woman identified as “Jane,” both of whom detailed psychological abuse, threats of video exposure, forced drug use, and Combs’s use of his influence and resources to control them. Defense counsel countered by presenting evidence asserting consensual encounters and emphasised alleged inconsistencies in witness accounts.
Combs now faces sentencing on the Mann Act counts, and was reportedly granted release pending that process after his legal team argued he posed no flight risk. His attorneys aim to keep him under house arrest in Miami. The jury’s inability to agree on racketeering leaves that charge unresolved, while civil lawsuits related to the allegations continue .
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