Sean “Diddy” Combs was yesterday found guilty on two out of five counts in his high-profile sex-trafficking trial, but acquitted of the most serious charge of racketeering.

Shortly after returning to deliberations in the morning, jurors announced they had reached a verdict. The music mogul was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution.

However, he was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.

It comes after the eight men and four women on the jury previously said there were members “with unpersuadable opinions on both sides” concerning the final, most serious charge: racketeering conspiracy.

Combs was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024. He has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.

Combs had been facing up to life in prison if he is convicted on the RICO charge, and another statutory minimum sentence of 15 years if found guilty of sex trafficking, the Independent reported.

This is coming after nearly two months of daily court appearances in his hometown of New York City, with Combs facing a split verdict, convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and both sex trafficking counts.

The 12-person jury delivered a split decision in Combs’ sex-crimes case, which started May 5 in Manhattan federal court. Jurors found Combs guilty of transportation to engage prostitution but acquitted him on the top charge of racketeering and both sex trafficking counts.

Combs, who was charged with two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering for leading what prosecutors alleged was a criminal organisation over the course of two decades, has long maintained his innocence. He previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Combs has been incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since he was arrested on September 16.

Combs faced a maximum sentence of life in prison for the racketeering charge. Sex trafficking has a 15-year mandatory minimum and maximum of life in prison. Transportation to engage in prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, USA Today, said.

Combs’ verdict comes a year and a half after allegations of sexual assault and trafficking started mounting against the embattled music mogul following a bombshell lawsuit from his former girlfriend of a decade, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura Fine, over alleged trafficking, sexual assault and abuse.

The two “amicably” settled the lawsuit one day later for $20 million, but his team has claimed her legal action kicked off the criminal investigation into the Bad Boy Records founder’s alleged behavior.

Federal prosecutors claimed Combs led a “criminal enterprise” that operated on sex trafficking, kidnapping, drug offenses and forced labor, among other crimes. Combs leveraged his wealth and celebrity status to “fulfill his sexual desires” in a “recurrent and widely known” pattern of abuse, investigators alleged.

The Grammy-winning rapper and producer, who once reigned with his A-list frequented White Parties, has also staunchly denied allegations brought forward in approximately 80 sexual assault lawsuits, which detail alleged incidents dating back to the 1990s.

Combs’ trial marked one of the highest-profile legal battles since the ‘Me Too’ movement gained steam in 2017.

Among the more than 30 witnesses in the trial were well-known stars such as ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) and former Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, also made a brief appearance to listen to some testimony on June 13.

In a long stretch of testimony from May 13 to 16, a nine-months-pregnant Ventura Fine laid bare the raw details of her complicated decade-long relationship with Combs. She emotionally opened up about her participation in his alleged sexual performances that were labeled “freak offs,” the physical and emotional abuse she said she faced, and the drug addiction she’d developed after using various substances in part to cope with the “freak offs.”

She also detailed alleged repeated physical abuse, which was captured in photographs shared with jurors.

The longest stretch of testimony was from an anonymous former partner to Combs, who used the pseudonym “Jane.” The two were romantically involved from 2021 to 2024 – a time during which Combs was openly dating other women.

Over the course of six days, Jane shared all the ways Combs allegedly pressured her to do sexual performances – namely, so-called “hotel nights” with sex workers that could last days – that “disgusted” her by leveraging his control over her finances, convincing her to take drugs and taking advantage of her desire for his approval.

Like Ventura Fine, Jane also vividly described Combs’ alleged abuse. In one episode, she said, he’d kicked, punched, dragged her before coercing her into performing sex acts with an escort.

Despite this, Jane said on the stand, “I just pray for his continued healing, and I pray for peace for him.”

Ahead of closing arguments June 26-27, both sides rested their cases on Tuesday, June 24. Combs’ lawyers rested their case in less than half an hour and did not call any witnesses.