Diddy's fellow inmates reportedly applauded upon his return to federal prison after he was acquitted of serious charges

Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs was said to have been cheered by his fellow prisoners when he returned to federal prison following his recent conviction. On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, the jury formally convicted him on two counts of transport for the purpose of prostitution but acquitted him on the more serious charges of s*x trafficking and racketeering.

During a sitting with AP News, the attorney representing the rapper said that the fellow inmates of Combs were quite sure to view the verdict as a beacon of hope, particularly Black men. According to him:

"They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government.’"

Notably, the s*x trafficking and racketeering charges would have seen Combs go to prison for life.

Diddy has been detained at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest last September. He will remain there until his sentence hearing.

"We had to tell the jury what it was so they wouldn’t think it was something it wasn’t"—Diddy's lawyer about their defense strategy

The divided ruling came after a nearly two-month-long trial where thirty-four people testified, including Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, explained that he was confident his client would be arrested on charges of s*x trafficking after the March 2024 raids on his Miami and Los Angeles properties. But he was optimistic.

"I said: ‘Maybe it’s your fate in life to be the guy who wins. They need to see that someone can win. I think he took that to heart," Agnifilo told AP News.

Notably, during the trial, the defense did not call any witnesses.

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Giving an insight into their strategy, the attorney explained that they met the rapper's "violence" and abuse against his former partner and employees head-on. He reasoned that the prosecution would try and "confuse" the jury by making it seem a part of a "s*x trafficking effort." He asserted:

"We had to tell the jury what it was so they wouldn’t think it was something it wasn’t."

It is worth noting that Diddy's legal counsel told jurors that he might be a domestic abuser with a drug problem and even jealous at times, but that did not mean s*x trafficking. They reasoned that Combs led a "swinger lifestyle" and the alleged victims participated in it willingly.

According to NBC New York, the Bad Boy Records founder's lawyer, Teny Geragos, said the following during the opening statement to the jurors:

"We will not shy away from the things he did, but we will not own the things he did not do," adding "He is physical, he is a drug user, you may know of his love of baby oil. Is that a federal crime? No!"

Elsewhere in the interview with AP News, Marc Agnifilo revealed that he was knowledgeable about the inner workings of New York’s racketeering laws, especially that their use has been expanded over the twenty years he worked as a federal prosecutor.

He elaborated that there were "weak points" in the statute, calling it "very mechanical." Comparing it to a vehicle, he explained that if one knew how a car worked, they knew where the "fail points" were.

 

 

 

 

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He added that the prosecution's case against Diddy had "dozens of fail points." He asserted that they didn't have a "conspiracy," continuing to note:

"They basically had Combs’ personal life and tried to build racketeering around personal assistants."

The attorney also noted that Diddy was "doing OK," and they frequently spoke to each other. He also suggested that the musician might head to a domestic abuser's program.

According to the outlet, ahead of the verdict hearing, the jurors had reached a decision about the s*x trafficking and prostitution-related counts but were at an impasse regarding the racketeering charges. Agnifilo explained that while unsure, they decided to come to court on Wednesday with a bail application prepared.

However, the judge denied the bond and ruled that Diddy will remain behind bars until his sentence hearing on October 3. He faces up to two years in prison.