'I'm coming home, baby!': Sean 'Diddy' Combs reacts after verdict read
After the split verdict in his federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial was read, acquitting him of the most serious offenses, Sean "Diddy" Combs turned to his family and exclaimed, "I'm coming home, baby!"
For now, though, Combs remains incarcerated. Hours following the mixed verdict -- in which Combs was convicted on two of his five counts -- the federal judge denied him bail while awaiting sentencing.
After a two-month trial, the New York jury found the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the most serious charge.
The jury did find him guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, one in connection with his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and one in connection with an ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym "Jane."
He was found not guilty of both charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion in connection with Ventura and "Jane."
When the verdict was read in the Manhattan federal courtroom on Wednesday, Combs was overcome with emotion, his feet visibly shaking throughout the reading.
He pumped his fist slightly when he heard he was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy. Some members in the gallery gasped.
Combs continued to look straight ahead as the remaining verdicts were read. When he heard the first guilty verdict, he rubbed his forehead.
When Combs was found not guilty of sex trafficking in connection with Ventura, there were screams of joy in the gallery.
There was very little reaction from Combs' family as the verdict was read. His son Justin leaned down and put his head in his lap while others looked straight ahead. Dana Tran, the mother of his youngest child, was in tears.
As each juror confirmed that the verdict read was accurate, Combs nodded his head and mouthed "thank you" to each of them.
When the verdict was confirmed and the judge gave the jurors instructions, Combs turned in his seat to his family and said, "I'm coming home, baby! I'm coming home!"
As the jury left the courtroom, Combs clasped his hands in front of his chest and again mouthed, "Thank you."
Combs kneeled on the ground and appeared to pray briefly after the jury was out of the room.
When the judge said he thought Combs likely didn't want to return to Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn, Combs comically shook his head no and put up prayer hands, as the gallery broke out in laughter.
After the judge left the bench, the defense team hugged and congratulated each other and the Combs family broke into applause. One person exclaimed that the defense attorneys were the "dream team."
As Combs left the courtroom, he said to his family, "I love you, I'ma be home soon."
Sean Combs' mother, Janice Combs, told ABC News as she left the courtroom that her heart was fluttering as the verdict was read.
His son Christian told ABC News outside the courthouse, "We love everybody watching. We’re so happy, my Pops is coming home. God bless."
At the top of a bail hearing Wednesday evening, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs bail, citing his "propensity for violence," as evidenced by hotel security camera footage depicting Combs assaulting Ventura.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo had argued Combs should be released Wednesday on $1 million bond, saying, "I just think we should trust him. He is not going to flee."
"He just deserves the chance," Agnifilo added.
In response, Assistant United States Attorney Maurene Ryan Comey countered that Combs "is extremely violent with an extraordinary temper who has shown no remorse and no regret."
"His brazenness is unmatched," she said while arguing he should remain in detention.
After initially setting the sentencing for Oct. 3, Subramanian agreed to move up the date after defense attorneys asked for a more expedited sentencing. The judge did not set a new date for the sentencing itself.
Each charge of transportation to engage in prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Comey said the government plans to pursue "significant incarceration" for Combs, who has already served about nine months in federal prison while awaiting trial.
Citing the federal sentencing guidelines -- a set of rules published by the government annually to give judges a framework to determine fair sentences -- prosecutors have argued that Combs' guideline range is 51 to 63 months' imprisonment, about four to five years.
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, argued the guidelines point toward a 21- to 27-month sentence -- approximately two years.
Following Wednesday's bail hearing, Agnifilo told reporters outside the courthouse that they are "not nearly done fighting."
"Today was a major, major step in the right direction," he said. "But we fight on and we're going to win and we're not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family."
