NEW YORK, United States (US): The federal jury in New York trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs found him guilty of prostitution-related offences but acquitted him of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, US media reported on Wednesday, after more than 13 hours of deliberations.
The 55-year-old now faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years – but no longer life imprisonment, as he would have faced if he had been found guilty on all counts, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
The sentence for Combs, who has been in custody since September, will be announced at a later date.
He was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The court was due to decide on Wednesday whether Combs would remain free until the sentence is handed down.
Combs heard the verdict in the courtroom in the presence of his mother and sister.
According to media reports, after the verdict was announced, Combs clapped his hands together, smiled, shook hands with one of his lawyers, and quietly whispered his thanks to the jury.
Doug Wigdor, the lawyer for the main witness, Cassie Ventura, said his client had “exemplary courage throughout the trial”.
The federal case was brought by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, considered one of the nation’s top federal prosecutorial offices.
Lawyers there had accused the hip-hop artist of abusing, threatening and coercing women into satisfying his sexual desires over several years.
During the trial, which lasted several weeks, several women reported years of serious sexual and physical abuse.
Combs had denied all allegations.
The charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering was created for gang crime, such as that committed by the Mafia, and was used successfully in the trial against singer R. Kelly to expose a systematic structure of sexual abuse.
The prosecution was unable to convince the jury that Combs had acted in concert with a network of insiders.
Millions of people around the world followed the trial, and the intimate and disturbing details of the case became part of many people’s daily gossip.
In addition to the criminal charges, there are also numerous ongoing civil lawsuits against Combs. -BERNAMA-dpa