🔗 Share this article

Sean "Diddy" Combs is scheduled for his sentence on Friday by a US district judge in New York City, after his guilty verdict earlier this 2025 on federal prostitution-related charges.

This article provides a summary of his legal proceedings: the charges he faced, the trial events, and potential next steps.

What Was He Found Guilty Of?

In July, after an eight-week trial, a jury convicted Combs of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the more severe allegations against him, racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, which could have resulted in the possibility of a life imprisonment.

The offenses on which he was convicted each have a maximum penalty of a decade. Combs had entered a not guilty plea to every count.

The presiding judge, Arun Subramanian, who presided over the trial, will hand down the ruling on Friday, with the court session set to start at 10:00 AM Eastern Time in federal district court in downtown Manhattan.

Combs, fifty-five, has been detained without bond at the Brooklyn metropolitan detention center since his apprehension in September last year. Since the decision, the judge has denied two bail requests from Combs’s lawyers, and earlier this week Subramanian also denied a request to set aside the convictions.

What Was Combs Facing?

Government attorneys alleged the Bad Boy Records founder of leveraging his status and resources, and employing intimidation and coercion, to force former partners into participating in sex parties involving drugs with male escorts. Such sessions were often called by the defendant as “hotel nights”, which prosecutors claimed Combs orchestrated, observed, masturbated to and occasionally recorded.

The prosecution asserted that for more than two decades, Combs operated a criminal enterprise – assisted by employees and associates – to conduct and conceal crimes including sex-trafficking, drug distribution, bribery and abduction.

Despite being convicted on two charges, Combs has denied any misconduct. His lawyers have insisted that all sexual activity was consensual and that no illicit organization was present.

What Transpired At Trial?

The prosecution presented over thirty witnesses, including former partners of Combs – artist Cassie Ventura and another woman who gave evidence under the pseudonym of “Jane” – who recounted the alleged events in graphic detail, and alleged that Combs pressured and intimidated them into participating.

Ventura was the star prosecution witness. She testified that during her 11-year, on-off relationship with Combs, he subjected her to physical, sexual and emotional abuse and to extortion. The court was shown the 2016 video of Combs assaulting Ventura in a hallway. Jane also testified of a violent altercation with Combs.

Additional testimony included ex-staff, male escorts, police officers, hotel staff and public figures including musician Kid Cudi and singer Dawn Richard. Combs chose not to take the stand.

Combs’s defense attorneys acknowledged past instances of domestic violence, but disputed that any force or sex trafficking occurred. They maintained that all sexual activity was agreed upon and part of a “alternative lifestyle”, and argued that Ventura and Jane were willing participants in the sex acts.

How Much Time Could He Serve?

Combs’s lawyers have asked the court for a sentence of a maximum of 14 months in prison, which, given time already served, would allow for his freedom before the end of the year. They claim that Combs has already been “adequately punished” by serving 13 months in the “harsh environment” at the detention center.

Federal prosecutors, however, have requested at least 135 months (11 years and three months) and a $500,000 fine. In legal documents, they portrayed Combs as “unrepentant” and said that “his history and characteristics demonstrate years of abuse and violence.

What Statements Were Made In Victim Impact Statements?

The government submitted several victim impact statements to the court ahead of the sentencing, including one from Ventura.

“Although the jurors did not seem to understand or believe that I engaged in the events because of the force and coercion the accused used against me, I know that is the truth, and his punishment should reflect the truth of the testimony and my lived experience as a victim,” Ventura wrote.

“I am so scared that if he is released, his initial steps will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse, at court,” she said.

“If there is one thing I have learned from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be safe,” she added. “I hope that your ruling takes into account the truths at hand that the jury overlooked.”

What Comes After Sentencing?

After sentencing, Combs’s attorneys could appeal against the decision. Combs’s defense is also expected to appeal his verdict.

Additionally, Combs is confronting dozens of civil lawsuits alleging of misconduct and further offenses. He has denied every claim in those suits.