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The mixed result still could send Combs, 55, to prison for as long as a decade, and is likely to end his career as a hitmaking music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star.

After hearing the verdict, Combs held his hands up in a prayer motion, looking at jury and hugged defense lawyer Teny Geragos. Combs' relatives and supporters in the audience could barely contain their relief, despite the judge's admonition to avoid outbursts: When the first 鈥渘ot guilty鈥� was read aloud, someone shouted, 鈥淵eah!鈥�

Combs later continued to pump his right fist subtly, seemingly satisfied that he was acquitted on the most serious charges.

Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and paid male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.

But the jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with the men.

Combs' defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to free Combs on bail in the wake of the verdict. The judge adjourned the court while he considers the matter.

Combs appeared overwhelmed as court adjourned for at least a few hours. He wiped his face, turning and kneeling at his chair, his head bowed in prayer. In the audience, his relatives stood and applauded as he faced them.

鈥淚鈥檒l be home soon," he said, and 鈥淚 love you, baby.鈥�

鈥淚 love you, Mom," he added.

His relatives applauded him and his lawyers as he was led out of court.

Combs has been behind bars since his arrest in September. His lawyers argued that the acquittal on the most serious counts changed the legal landscape enough that he should get bail.

Verdict follows weeks of harrowing testimony

Jurors deliberated for about 13 hours over three days before announcing their verdict. It came after they said late Tuesday that they had decided on four counts but were stuck on the racketeering one. At that point, the judge told them to keep deliberating and keep the partial verdict under wraps.

Combs did not testify at his trialtria, which featured 34 witnesses as well as video of the rapper attacking his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie.

Her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement after the verdict that 鈥渂y coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice.鈥�

Cassie testified for four days about her turbulent 11-year relationship with Combs, which began after she signed with his Bad Boy record label.

Cassie said Combs became obsessed with voyeuristic encounters, arranged with the help of his staff, that involved sex workers and copious amounts of baby oil. During the sex events, called 鈥渇reak-offs鈥� or 鈥渉otel nights,鈥� Combs would order Cassie to do things with other men that she found humiliating, she testified.

When things didn鈥檛 go Combs' way, he would beat her, she said.

鈥淚鈥檓 not a rag doll. I鈥檓 somebody鈥檚 child,鈥� Cassie told Combs after he dragged her down a hotel hallway in 2016.

Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym 鈥淛ane,鈥� told the jury she repeatedly told Combs she didn鈥檛 want to have sex with the men hired for their trysts.

鈥淚鈥檓 not an animal. I need a break,鈥� she told him. Nevertheless, she said she felt 鈥渙bligated鈥� to comply with his demands, in part because he paid her rent.

Defense calls case an invasion of privacy

The trial鈥檚 most famous witness, rapper Kid Cudi, said Combs broke into his home in late 2011 after learning he and Cassie were dating. After his car was firebombed a few weeks later, Cudi 鈥� whose real name is Scott Mescudi 鈥� said he knew Combs 鈥渉ad something to do鈥� with it. Combs denied it.

Combs鈥� defense team acknowledged that he could be violent but argued that prosecutors were intruding in his personal life. In his closing remarks to the jury, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said it wasn鈥檛 illegal for Combs to make 鈥渉omemade porn鈥� with his girlfriends.

鈥淭hey go into the man鈥檚 bedroom. They go into the man鈥檚 most private life. Where is the crime scene?鈥� Agnifilo said.

While Jane described violence 鈥� like a night when Combs choked her, punched her face, leaving welts and a black eye, when she resisted an encounter with a sex worker 鈥� she also acknowledged on the witness stand that her feelings are complicated.

She testified that she still loves Combs and had planned to meet him in New York for one last 鈥渉otel night鈥� when he was arrested last September.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

Rapper, entrepreneur and criminal defendant

Combs was at the center of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s and became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades, diversifying his interests with the Sean John fashion label, Ciroc vodka, a cable TV channel and a film and TV studio.

Along with his protege Biggie Smalls 鈥� the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997 鈥� Combs worked with artists including Mary J. Blige, Usher and Lil Kim.

In 2001, Combs was at the center of one of the biggest hip-hop trials of its era, stemming from a Manhattan nightclub shooting that injured three people in 1999. Combs was acquitted of charges that he took an illegal gun into the club and tried to bribe his driver to take the fall.

His career recovered quickly that time.

Combs鈥� reputation may have suffered irreparable damage, though, after Cassie sued him in November 2023, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. He settled the next day for $20 million, but more lawsuits by other women and men followed.

Most are still pending.