What's next for 'Diddy' after his guilty verdict? Sean Combs awaits sentencing date, faces maximum prison time of 20 years
The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul will remain in jail until sentencing, tentatively scheduled for October.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail by a federal judge late Wednesday, after he was acquitted by a jury of sex trafficking and racketeering but convicted of transporting prostitutes to participate in drug-fueled sex marathons, and will remain in jail as he awaits sentencing.
The ruling capped a roller coaster day in federal court for the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul, who hours earlier pumped his fist and fell to his knees after the mixed verdict was read.
Combs could have been sentenced to life in prison had he been convicted of racketeering or sex trafficking. He now faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, though he could receive significantly less.
What happened in court?
After more than 12 hours of deliberations across three days, the jury of eight men and four women reached a verdict, finding Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the federal Mann Act but not guilty of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and racketeering conspiracy — charges that each carried maximum sentences of life in prison.
Count 1: Racketeering conspiracy — NOT GUILTY
Count 2: Sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion regarding Victim 1 (Cassie Ventura) — NOT GUILTY
Count 3: Transportation to engage in prostitution regarding Victim 1 (Cassie Ventura) and commercial sex workers — GUILTY
Count 4: Sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion regarding Victim 2 ("Jane") — NOT GUILTY
Count 5: Transportation to engage in prostitution regarding Victim 2 ("Jane") and commercial sex workers — GUILTY
The defense team asked Judge Arun Subramanian to immediately release Combs, who has been held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., since his arrest last September. His lawyers proposed that he be released on $1 million bond, turn over his passport and submit to drug testing.
"He needs and wants to be with — and remain with — his family," Combs’s lawyers wrote in a letter to the judge.
Federal prosecutors urged the judge to deny the defense's request, arguing that Combs is a “danger” to society and should remain incarcerated while he awaits sentencing.
"Over the course of seven weeks, the jury heard evidence of the defendant’s violence, interstate transportation of numerous individuals for prostitution, drug use and distribution, and attempts to escape law enforcement detection," read their letter to the judge. "This conduct spanned two decades."
Why was Combs denied bail?
Subramanian rejected the request from Combs's attorneys that he be released until sentencing, citing, in part, their admission that he had a history of violent behavior over the course of the trial.
"At trial, the defense conceded the defendant's violence in his personal relationships," Subramanian said, adding that the defense had failed to prove that Combs poses "no danger to any person."
Subramanian added that Combs's duties as a father and son did not rise to the level that's necessary to allow an exception under the law, which mandates detention in most cases.
How much time could he end up serving?
Combs faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. He was convicted of two prostitution-related offenses that each carry maximum sentences of up to 10 years.
His lawyers said that under federal sentencing guidelines, he would likely face about two years in prison, including the time he has already spent in jail. Prosecutors, citing Combs’s history of violence and other factors, said the guidelines call for a sentence of at least four to five years. The final decision will be up to the judge.
When will Combs be sentenced?
Judge Subramanian set a tentative sentencing date of Oct. 3 but will consider the defense’s request for it to be sooner at a virtual hearing next week.
“We are not nearly done fighting,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’s lead defense attorney, told reporters at a press conference outside the courthouse. “We’re not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family.”
“I’ll see you when I get out,” Combs told family members in the courtroom after being denied bail. “We’re going to get through this.”