Combs Acquitted of Sex Trafficking but Found Guilty on Lesser Charges
Though Mr. Combs, 55, still faces a potential sentence of as much as 20 years in prison, he and his lawyers were jubilant after the acquittals on the more severe charges in an indictment that accused the famed producer of coercing women into unwanted sex with male prostitutes, aided by a team of pliant employees.
Mr. Combs had faced a possible life sentence. Under the transportation charges, set by the federal Mann Act, each of the two convictions carries a maximum term of 10 years, and the judge could set lesser sentences to run concurrently.
After the verdict was read in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan, Mr. Combs put his hands together and mouthed 'thank you, thank you' at the jury of eight men and four women. Later, he dropped to his knees, apparently in prayer, and started a round of applause. His supporters and family began clapping and whistling for his legal team, who embraced each other at the conclusion of the eight-week trial.
'Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury,' Marc Agnifilo, Mr. Combs's lead lawyer, said in court following the verdict.
Lawyers for Mr. Combs, who had been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest in September 2024, immediately began efforts after the verdict to secure his release until the sentencing. But the government has sought to continue to keep him detained, and Judge Arun Subramanian was scheduled to hear motions from both sides on the issue on Wednesday evening.
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