Sean Combs Acquitted on Most Serious Charges, Guilty Verdicts on 2 of 5 Counts
Considering what Combs was up against when his trial began on May 5, many are calling today’s verdicts a victory of sorts.
A Manhattan jury has found Sean “Diddy” Combs not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the most serious of the charges he was facing, and the one that could have put him behind bars for life. This charge, which falls under the RICO Act, “alleged that Combs participated in a criminal enterprise. Prosecutors claimed he used his business empire to facilitate illegal activities,” according to NBC News.
He was also acquitted on two counts of sex trafficking, by force, fraud, or coercion. This charge relates to “allegations that Combs coerced individuals into engaging in commercial sexual activity,” as per NBC. If he had been convicted, he would have faced 10 years to life in prison for each count.
Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. “This charge alleges that Combs knowingly transported individuals across state lines or internationally with the intent that they would engage in prostitution.”
Considering what Combs was up against when his trial began on May 5, some are calling today’s verdicts a victory of sorts.
Breaking! Sean Diddy Combs has been acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking.
He has been found guilty on two counts transportation to engage in prostitution. pic.twitter.com/I4E5HycM78
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 2, 2025
"Thank You, Thank You": Sean Combs Celebrates After Jury Convicts On Lesser Counts. #DiddyTrial pic.twitter.com/wLOz5Z4yJl
— ReUPs™ (@_Re_UPS) July 2, 2025
The mixed result in the sex trafficking case against rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur “Diddy,” in United States v. Combs, came on the third day of deliberations. The jury notified Judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday afternoon, that while they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the first count of racketeering conspiracy, they had reached decisions on counts two through five. The jurors informed the judge that there were “unpersuadable jurors on both sides.”
Following discussions with prosecutors and defense attorneys, the judge ordered the jury to reconvene on Wednesday morning and try to reach a decision on the racketeering charge. And shortly after 10 a.m., the jury announced they had arrived at a verdict on the final charge.
Initial reactions on social media suggest widespread disappointment with the verdicts.
50 Cent every time one of Diddy’s verdicts came back “Not Guilty” pic.twitter.com/PLx0uRvVQa
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) July 2, 2025
This story will be updated as more details come in.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Sounds like someone is going to have a big party soon.
Isn’t that how this started?
You can take the boy out of the party, but you can’t take the party out of the boy, etc, etc.
Everyone does when they’re staring at 20 years in prison.
Or did you miss that?
He was convicted.
A Mann Act Violation, but not sure the White-Slave moniker is apropos.
Transporting young gulls across state lions for immortal porpoises.
Nothing fishy about those activities
That’s worth 4 or 5 thumbs up.
All of his union people are working for scale.
its their attempt to please the metoo movement
all consenting adults traveled of their own free will
DROP THOSE CHARGES!
I expect the charges to be dismissed upon appeal. Diddy didn’ do nuffin’ that fits the raps. Nobody he moved across a state line was prostituted. He engaged prostitutes after crossing state lines, but that’s not a federal crime. He may also have invited prostitutes to cross state lines so that he could pay them for their services. Diddy wasn’t making money from prostitution, nobody in his entourage was prostituted (others weren’t paying for sex with them), so he wasn’t “trafficking.” Diddy’s activities cost him money.
Transporting prostitutes across state lines to be…prostitutes. I always thought the entire thing was ridiculous. Diddy is a creep and the parties revolting but the people showed up of their own free will. Now that the details came out they are running for the hills claiming some type of coercion. If you did something for several years and texted love notes back and forth with the guy organizing it then you are not coerced into anything.
What a piece of trash. Too bad he didn’t get the death penalty.
“Being a piece of trash” is not a crime. I didn’t get invited to his freak-offs either, don’t feel bad. It just really seems there’s no “there” there, or very little, in this case.
except for the nod to the
women are equal BUT THEY ARE CHILDREN ( when the going gets tough)
he is innocent of all of it
the motives of the state to indict him??
like capone..forget the murders…tax evasion
like cuomo,,,for sending the seniors to their german shower moment….se xual harassment
like trump…anything we can make up/lie about him…….s exual abuse ( which as we know is pure bbbbsssss)
Not surprising. Putting a celebrity on trial is always a crapshoot.
Anytime you shoot at crap it’s a crapshoot.
Elsewhere it has been reported that he might do little additional jail time beyond the nearly a year he has already been held – which counts toward the sentence.
This is why there have been no trials for all the DC corruption.
In a sense. This is the bread and circuses they feed to the media and the populace so we don’t demand trials on the serious crimes that affect us all.
US DOJ overplayed its hand and the jury busted them.
DOJ threw the charges against the wall to see what might stick. I’m somewhat shocked that any of them did. But then again, a jury was bamboozled into acquitting OJ, so go figure.
the OJ jury already knew their verdict was not guilty before the show began
There’s no “penalty” to the prosecutor for adding excessive charges. There should be. I was on a Florida state jury and they way overcharged the guy. We acquitted on the main charges but some jurors thought we should convict on some lesser charges because we weren’t sure of innocence either and so we should “split the difference”. But there was no more proof of the lesser charges than the greater ones. Fortunately we acquitted on everything, but it’s a known tactic to get convictions.
Here it is still possible that if the most serious felonies had not been charged, he would not have been convicted of two lesser felonies. Was the jury persuaded to convict on a lower standard on the ‘little” charges? If so the DOJ was rewarded, not punished, for their immoral behavior in overcharging.
More evidence that privilege is not a race thing but a class/wealth thing.
And what was the evidence that he committed these felonies he was acquitted of?
Pictures are worth 1000 words.
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/celebrities/2025/06/27/diddy-trial-evidence-photos-sean-combs/84387734007/
There’s more in written testimony but that’s the easiest to follow.
They were crazy parties with drugs, a car got set on fire somehow, he had guns there. What does that have to do with sex trafficking or conspiracy? Or even the crimes he was convicted of, other than showing that crazy things happened which might make some things less improbable? Well below the standard of proof of any of the charges.
Were there victims saying they were drugged and raped? But he wasn’t charged with rape. Anyway I appreciate the link, and I don’t expect you to explain it all to me, but I don’t see the smoking gun here, just some guns.
All the Hollyweirdos breathed a collective sigh of relief.
As well as a bunch of Congressmen, when and if the Epstein files are released.
As my old law partner said, anytime you beat the offer, it’s a win.
Was a plea bargain offered? I didn’t follow the case as it was going on.
There are going to be MANY J6ers who received far longer sentences than this idiot is going to get. Comey’s daughter understood her assignment; Tank this case so that double-jeopardy attaches.
You make two completely unrelated statements. The J6 people did not belong in court at all. That doesn’t mean Diddy was guilty of sex crimes.
He should have been found guilty of crappy music, ugly clothes, stupid name, and poor taste. He should then have been given the death penalty.
Never let it be said noone is above the law. We now have proof too many are.
OJ would have up clicked you but he’s no longer available. I will do so in his stead.
Denied bail until sentencing for prostitution? Seems like he’s beneath the law, when facing a judge that wanted him convicted on the heavy hitter charges and didn’t get it.
He wasn’t charged with the crime of rape, but I read in the NYPost that he’s facing future civil suits for rape.
That seems like bullshit, that you can avoid the reasonable doubt burden of proof by just switching to a civil suit. But it lets courts “delight to do justice” and lots of punishing, which seems to make courts feel they’re productive or something.
This guy is another Epstein. The FBI and the DoJ only cultivated enough evidence — and buried the rest — so as to convict him without exposing the politically connected. That’s why he’s not looking at serious jail time.