Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted of a prostitution-related offense but acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop’s most celebrated figures behind bars for life.
The mixed result came on the third day of deliberations. It could still send Combs, 55, to prison for as long as a decade, and is likely to end his career as a hitmaking music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star.
Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and paid male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.
But the jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with the men.
Combs and his defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.
The court has not released identifying information about the jurors, who were discreetly ushered into and out of the courthouse each day so that the media had no access to them. Trial observers had to remain in the courtroom for about 10 minutes until the jurors were all taken down in a freight elevator, likely to the courthouse garage.
Before dismissing them, the judge spoke to the jury, guiding them on whether and how to speak about the case to the media. He told them not to speak about other jurors’ deliberations.
