The federal trial of Sean Combs ended on Wednesday with the music mogul acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, the most serious charges he had faced, but convicted on two counts of transporting prostitutes to participate in drug-fueled sex marathons.
Though Mr. Combs and his lawyers were jubilant after the acquittals on the more severe charges, he still awaits sentencing at a date that is not yet scheduled.
Here is what is next for Mr. Combs:
Mr. Combs will remain in a Brooklyn jail.
Before 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a jubilant Mr. Combs and his family were clapping and cheering his legal team after what they considered a victory in court. But a question remained: Would Judge Arun Subramanian grant him bail to go free as he waited for his sentencing hearing?
The defense proposed a $1 million bond, co-signed by Mr. Combs, his mother, his sister and Sarah Chapman, the mother of his oldest daughter, Chance. His passport would be surrendered, and his travel would be restricted to the judicial districts around New York, Los Angeles and Miami. He would also agree to drug testing.
“Today, the jury unambiguously rejected the government’s allegations that Mr. Combs ran a yearslong criminal enterprise or engaged in sex trafficking — the core of the government’s case,” the defense wrote.
In a letter filed by the government, prosecutors argued that Mr. Combs should remain in detention in part because during the trial “the defendant embraced the fact that he was a habitual drug user who regularly engaged in domestic abuse.”
The judge agreed with prosecutors that Mr. Combs should remain held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, saying that detention is “mandatory” for a Mann Act conviction, the prostitution-related charge.
He cited the defense’s own statements in closing arguments, when Marc Agnifilo, Mr. Combs’s lead lawyer, said, “If he was charged with domestic violence we wouldn’t all be here having a trial because he would have pled guilty — because he did that.”
The judge also pointed out that one of the acts of violence against a former girlfriend occurred in June 2024, after Mr. Combs knew he was under investigation.
The details of his prison term are unsettled.
Mr. Combs’s sentencing date has not been set yet, though the judge said at one point that he hoped to hold the hearing in October.
The defense asked to accelerate that schedule. But Judge Subramanian said one factor that supported a longer window before sentencing is the large gap between what the government and the defense view as an appropriate sentence.
Those convicted of arranging transportation to engage in prostitution, as Mr. Combs was, can be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for each violation of the Mann Act. But the judge has the discretion to set a lesser term; he noted on Wednesday that Mr. Combs had already served nearly 10 months in jail since his arrest in September 2024, time that would count toward his ultimate sentence.
Mr. Agnifilo said that those convicted under the Mann Act were typically defendants who profited from prostitution, including underage victims. Mr. Combs was convicted of having brought escorts across state lines to have sex with his girlfriend, but he did not financially benefit from the encounter.
Mr. Agnifilo said the court should recognize how different those sorts of cases are. “There’s nothing remotely similar to this,” he said.
When the hearing about bail and sentencing ended, Mr. Combs prepared to return to detention, lowering his head as he stood. “We’ll make it through this,” he said to his family in the gallery. “Love you all.”
Mr. Combs still faces dozens of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct.
The criminal investigation into Mr. Combs began after Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer known as Cassie, filed a bombshell lawsuit in November 2023 that accused him of physically abusing her and forcing her into sexual encounters with escorts.
Mr. Combs settled the lawsuit with Ms. Ventura in one day for $20 million, a figure she revealed at his trial. But over the months that followed, dozens of additional lawsuits were filed against Mr. Combs, by both named and anonymous accusers who claim that he drugged, raped and sexually assaulted them.
Mr. Combs has consistently denied all the accusations in the suits and his lawyers have been seeking dismissals of them, describing the claims as false accusations cobbled together to try to secure a financial settlement.
In a news conference on Wednesday after the mixed verdict in his criminal case, one of his lawyers, Teny Geragos, declared, “Sean Combs has not sexually assaulted anybody.”
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
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