A judge on Wednesday declined to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs, meaning the hip-hop mogul won’t go free while he awaits sentencing in his sex crimes case.
The bond decision came after a jury convicted Combs of federal prostitution-related offences but acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the applicable law didn’t allow for Combs’ release at this point.
Among other reasons, the judge noted Combs’ violent history: “At trial, the defence conceded the defendant’s violence in his personal relationships, saying it happened with Cassie and Jane.”
As the judge spoke, Combs remained stoic with his hands at his lap.
Combs was found guilty on count three, the transportation of ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura to engage in prostitution. He was also found guilty on count five, the transportation of former girlfriend “Jane” for the same purposes.
Combs was found not guilty on count one, racketeering conspiracy; count two, the sex trafficking of Ventura and count four, the sex trafficking of Jane.
The defence won three acquittals after he was found not guilty of running a criminal enterprise and two counts of sex trafficking. Combs was only found guilty of the transportation of Ventura and Jane.
After the verdict was read, Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked the court to release Combs from federal detention now that he is no longer charged with sex trafficking.
Agnifilo asked that Combs be released on conditional bail to his home in Miami, Fla., and offered a $1 million bond. Prosecutor Maurene Comey countered, saying to Subramanian that Combs should remain in jail until sentencing.
Comey also said the government will seek a 20-year maximum sentence for Combs.
“Mr. Agnifilo tried to downplay the significance” of the charges Combs was convicted of, “but the record says otherwise,” the prosecutor said.
She said the court has heard testimony of years of illegal conduct, transporting sex workers, drug use and attempting to intimidate witnesses.
Comey argued there’s a “real risk that he will flagrantly disregard orders from this court, that he will commit new crimes and that he will attempt to flee justice.”
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Subramanian asked the prosecution and defence to each prepare a letter arguing their position on whether Combs should be granted bail.
As the court was adjourned, Combs wiped his face, turned and kneeled at his chair with his head bowed in prayer.
His family stood and applauded as Combs faced them before being led out of the courtroom by authorities. They also cheered for his lawyers as the defence team hugged each other.
Janice Combs (C), mother of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, gives a thumbs up as she departs with her children and family members at Manhattan’s Federal Court after a jury reached a full verdict in Combs’ sex trafficking trial on July 2, 2025.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
As Combs turned toward his family as he left the courtroom, he smiled as they applauded and said, “I’ll be home soon.”
He added: “I love you, baby,” and, “I love you, Mom.”
Ventura, who testified that Combs beat and raped her, was applauded by one of her lawyers for her courage, despite the verdict.
“Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution,” Douglas H. Wigdor said in a statement.
“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice.”
On Tuesday, the jury said that it had reached a verdict on four of five counts against the hip-hop mogul. But the partial decision remained under wraps after jurors were told to keep deliberating because they were stuck on the top charge, racketeering conspiracy.
Prosecutors, Combs’ defence team and Subramanian reasoned that after just two days of deliberations, it was too soon to give up on reaching a verdict on all counts. Rather than taking a partial verdict, Subramanian told the jury to continue weighing the remaining charge.
The developments came late Tuesday afternoon, when the jury sent a note saying it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge because there were jurors with “unpersuadable” views on both sides.
But in less than 13 hours of deliberations, the jury did reach a verdict on two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The latter concerns allegations of arranging to fly the women and sex workers across state lines.
Combs had pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that prosecutors were trying to criminalize Combs’ swinger lifestyle and that, if anything, his conduct amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies.
Earlier Tuesday, the jury asked to review critical testimony from one of the prosecution’s most important witnesses: the hip-hop mogul’s former longtime girlfriend, Ventura.
The panel of eight men and four women asked for Ventura’s account of Combs beating, kicking and dragging her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — an assault captured on now-infamous security camera footage.
They also asked to see Ventura’s testimony about when she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off their yacht at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2013. On their way back to the U.S., she said, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex.
In addition, the jury asked for Ventura and stripper Daniel Phillip’s testimony about her jumping into his lap at a New York City hotel. Phillip testified that “she was terrified,” and he suspected Combs had been slapping and slamming her around an adjacent room.
Phillip testified that he told her she was in real danger. Ventura, he said, “basically tried to convince me that it was OK: ‘It’s OK. I’m fine, I’ll be OK.’”
— With files from The Associated Press
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