Diddy (Sean Combs) sentenced to 50 months after split verdict

Sean Combs was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison on Oct. 3, 2025, for two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, Billboard reported, citing the New York Times and other outlets. Judge Arun Subramanian handed down the term in a Manhattan courtroom. Combs's lawyers had asked for 14 months. Prosecutors had asked for more than 11 years. The judge landed in the middle, and called the decade-plus request "not reasonable."

The counts: guilty, and not guilty

A federal jury in Manhattan found Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, NPR reported on July 2, 2025. The jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours. They found him not guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, NPR reported.

The gap between those columns is the whole story. NPR reports that a racketeering conviction carried a maximum of life in prison, and that each trafficking count carried a 15-year statutory minimum. The two counts that stuck carry a maximum of 10 years each. Combs did not take the stand, and his lawyers called no witnesses, NPR reported. Instead they pointed to text messages and argued the relationships were toxic but did not meet the government's standard of federal criminality.

What the judge said, and what he allowed in

Billboard reports that the judge ruled he could consider "acquitted conduct," which Combs's lawyers had asked him to exclude. He also said Combs would not get credit for accepting responsibility, since Combs had continued to challenge his convictions. Before sentencing, Combs told the court he was apologizing for "disgusting, shameful and sick" behavior and asked for mercy, Billboard reported. Prosecutors called him a "master puppeteer of his own image."

"send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability."

Judge Arun Subramanian on his sentence, as quoted by Billboard, Oct. 3, 2025

The defense had argued from the start that the alleged victims were consenting participants and that the relationships did not add up to federal crimes, Billboard reported. The jury sided with that argument on the top counts. The judge, in sentencing, looked at the same evidence and drew a harder line.

The civil suits that remain

The criminal case is one ledger. The civil docket is another. Billboard reports that Combs still faces dozens of civil lawsuits over similar abuse allegations.

Variety reported on Nov. 23, 2023, that a woman sued him in New York Supreme Court, alleging he drugged and assaulted her in 1991. The suit also names his companies Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Enterprises. A Combs spokesperson called the claims "made up and not credible" and "purely a money grab." By September 2024, BBC News counted at least 27 more people who had come forward with claims, and reported that Combs has denied all of them. In October 2024, lawyers announced plans for 120 more suits, per the Washington Post; Combs's attorney Erica Wolff denied any such abuse, the Post reported.

Combs has also been a plaintiff. Variety reported that in February 2025 he sued NBCUniversal, Peacock and Ample Entertainment for $100 million over the documentary "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy," saying it falsely accused him of serious crimes. The companies' response is not in the documents read.

What comes next

Billboard reports the sentencing clears the way for an appeal of both the convictions and the sentence, a process that could take more than a year, and that his team has reportedly lobbied the Trump administration for a pardon. Mr Scandal notes only that a reported lobbying effort is not a pardon. With credit for time served, Billboard calculates Combs, then 55, would be behind bars a little over three more years.