In July 202ound Sean “Diddy” Combs, aged 55, guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution (i.e. arranging for individuals to travel across state lines for paid sexual encounters) under the Mann Act statute. He was acquitted on more serious counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and racketeering conspiracy. During the trial prosecutors had alleged that Combs organized “drug-fueled sexual performances” involving paid male escorts interacting with his girlfriends, while he filmed or otherwise observed the acts, and coerced participation through threats or abuse.
On October 3, 2025, Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced Combs to 50 months in prison (just over four years), along with a fine of $500,000. The sentence took account of roughly 13 months he had already spent in custody in a Brooklyn federal detention center (pretrial detention) from his arrest in September 2024. The court also imposed a period of supervised release following the prison term. Combs’s lawyers had urged a far more lenient punishment (arguing for as low as 14 months), while prosecutors had pushed for a significantly longer term (some recommending over 11 years) given the severity details presented at trial.
As for the pardon request: on October 6, 2025, President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Combs (whom he referred to by his earlier moniker “Puff Daddy”) had indeed asked him for a presidential pardon. Trump was speaking in the context of questions about whether he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, whose appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court had just been declined, and he said he “would speak to the DOJ” (Department of Justice) before making any decision. He did not commit either way at that moment, stating he would “take a look” at the case.
