On Friday, Sean Combs will enter Federal District Court in Manhattan to learn how much more of his life will be spent behind bars.
In July, at the conclusion of an eight-week trial, a jury acquitted Mr. Combs of the most serious charges brought against him: sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. But the jury found him guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and now Judge Arun Subramanian will decide Mr. Combs’s punishment.
Here is a look at what is at stake for Mr. Combs, and what to expect on Friday.
The convictions carry the possibility of significant prison time.
Mr. Combs — the hit music producer known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, who built a wide-ranging business empire around his personal brand — was accused at trial of coercing two former girlfriends into participating in elaborate, drug-fueled sex marathons with hired male escorts. If convicted of the most serious charges, he would have faced a potential life sentence.
When he was acquitted of those counts, he fell to his knees in prayer, and his lawyer said he had “been given his life back.”
But the two counts on which he was found guilty still carry maximum sentences of 10 years each. They stem from the federal Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.
Prosecutors have portrayed these offenses as serious criminal misconduct, while the defense has depicted them as “fallback” charges that should never have been brought at all.
The range of possible sentences varies widely.
Though the judge has the final say, both sides have offered recommendations based on federal sentencing guidelines that take into account factors such as the seriousness of the crime, the effects on victims and whether the offender has accepted responsibility.
The prosecution asked for no less than 135 months imprisonment — 11 years and three months — calling Mr. Combs “unrepentant,” and detailing instances of violence and intimidation that were testified to at his trial.
The defense team has called for a sentence of no more than 14 months — which, accounting for the year Mr. Combs has already served at a detention center in Brooklyn, would allow him to walk free by the end of 2025.
Mr. Combs’s lawyers say that he has already been sufficiently punished for what, they contend, amounted to consensual sex between Ms. Combs’s girlfriends and men hired as “entertainers.”
Federal probation officials calculated that the guidelines called for a sentence of up to seven years and three months.
There is disagreement over what factors the judge should consider.
Though judges must consider sentencing guidelines, they have broad discretion to decide penalties. Michael W. Martin, a clinical law professor at Fordham, said that given the multiple factors to be considered and the consequences, judges will “always tell you it’s the hardest part of the job.”
In the Combs case, prosecutors and the defense have already sparred over how much of the evidence presented at trial should factor into the sentence, considering he was acquitted of most of the charges.
The trial included abundant testimony about Mr. Combs’s violent behavior. Casandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, who was in an on-and-off relationship with Mr. Combs for about 11 years, said she suffered numerous beatings. Security footage from a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, shown repeatedly to jurors, captured Mr. Combs throwing Ms. Ventura down as she walked to an elevator, then kicking her and dragging her down a hallway.
Mr. Combs’s lawyers acknowledged that their client had assaulted women in his life, but they argued those actions did not suit the crimes he was charged with. Given the jury’s verdict, they have asserted that testimony about violence should play no role in the judge’s decision.
“The court cannot use acquitted conduct in any way to enhance Mr. Combs’s sentence,” they wrote in a recent filing, saying that referring to that conduct in determining the sentence would raise serious constitutional issues.
Prosecutors have argued just the opposite. They asked the judge to consider the full evidence at trial when determining Mr. Combs’s sentence.
“Even with the conviction on just these two charges, there is serious, serious, relevant conduct here that will merit a lengthy period of incarceration,” Maurene Comey, one of the prosecutors, told Judge Subramanian during a bail hearing after the verdict was announced. (Ms. Comey was later fired from the Justice Department without explanation and has sued the Trump administration over her termination.)
Sam J. Merchant, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said that while guidelines often act as an “anchor” in sentencing, judges have significant leeway when deciding a defendant’s ultimate punishment.
“In plain English, the judge can consider any information about the defendant or the crime when they’re considering an appropriate sentence to impose on the offender,” Professor Merchant said.
Mr. Combs is expected to address the court.
Though Mr. Combs did not testify at his trial, his defense team indicated in recent court papers that he intends to “allocute,” or speak to the judge, before his sentence is handed down.
In a letter submitted to the judge last week, Mr. Combs’s lawyers asked that their client be allowed to wear “non-prison clothing” at the sentencing. (At trial, as a result of a similar request, Mr. Combs appeared in a variety of light-colored sweaters and collared shirts.)
“The sentencing proceeding holds significant importance for Mr. Combs,” the letter said. “He wishes to appear before the Court, address Your Honor, and allocute in the most dignified and respectful fashion possible.”
Allocutions are often opportunities for defendants to express remorse for their behavior, as well as a desire to improve their lives if released.
Combs allies have pushed for a presidential pardon.
A lawyer for Mr. Combs has acknowledged that people close to her client have approached the Trump administration to request a pardon on his behalf.
The two men do know each other. In the 1990s, Mr. Trump and Mr. Combs crossed paths in the celebrity circles of New York, though their relationship soured after Mr. Trump entered politics. In 2020, Mr. Combs endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr. for president, and said in an interview that if Mr. Trump was re-elected, “I really do believe in my heart there’ll be a race war.”
Mr. Trump seemed to refer to Mr. Combs’s criticism in an interview on Newsmax in August when asked about a pardon for Mr. Combs.
“When you knew someone and you were fine,” the president said, “and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements — so, I don’t know, it’s more difficult.”
Their celebrity history may work in Mr. Combs’s favor, said Frank Bowman, a professor emeritus of law at the University of Missouri. Mr. Trump has a track record of pardoning rappers and other figures in hip-hop, including Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
Whether because of politics, wealth or celebrity, “he pardons people who he thinks of as his people,” Professor Bowman said.
Megyn Kelly is among the conservative commentators who have urged the president not to pardon Mr. Combs. In a post on X in July, she called him a “Trump hater” and “woman abuser.” She added: “MAGA is already upset over elites seeming to cover for each other. This would not help.”
Mark Osler, a law professor and clemency expert, said he doesn’t view Mr. Trump’s comments as necessarily representing a closed door.
“You can read that as a challenge,” he said. “The truth is that Trump has changed his mind about people. They’re his enemies, they become his friends, then they’re his enemies again.”
Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
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