Sean “Diddy” Combs will be sentenced on October 3 following his conviction on two federal counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, charges that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years each, though the court is not expected to impose the maximum term.
The sentencing date was set after a federal jury returned a split verdict on July 2, acquitting the music mogul of racketeering and sex trafficking charges but finding him guilty of the lesser prostitution-related offences. The verdict followed eight weeks of testimony and 13 hours of deliberation.
While prosecutors initially painted Combs as the head of a sprawling criminal enterprise, the jury rejected the most severe allegations. The not-guilty verdicts spared the 55-year-old from a potential life sentence.
Still, the convictions mean Combs faces years in prison. Prosecutors are expected to seek a sentence of 51 to 63 months, citing his history of violence, drug use, and the fact that he committed the offences while under federal investigation. The defence, meanwhile, has indicated it will request a reduced term of 21 to 27 months.
Combs has been held without bail at a Brooklyn detention centre since September 2024. That time will count toward his final sentence.
Judge Arun Subramanian, who presided over the trial, denied a post-verdict bail request from Combs’s legal team, citing his “documented record of domestic violence.”
The same history, paradoxically, helped the defence discredit aspects of the racketeering and trafficking claims that led to his acquittal.
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