Diddy's federal trial reached a stunning conclusion this morning when the jury of 12 everyday New Yorkers delivered a mixed verdict, acquitting him on the more serious counts, racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but finding him guilty on two interstate prostitution charges.
Diddy faces a potential prison sentence of as much as 20 years. But with the not guilty verdict on the three other counts in the U.S. government's case, he has avoided a maximum possible sentence of life behind bars.
The seven-week trial inside the federal courthouse in Manhattan featured 34 government witnesses and reams of oftentimes graphic testimony about drug-dazed "freak offs" and alleged physical assaults. U.S. government prosecutors attempted to paint a scathing portrait of a man who, they argued, refused to take "no" for an answer.
Ultimately, though, the jury panel was not convinced that the Grammy-winning rapper led an alleged criminal enterprise or sex-trafficked two of his ex-girlfriends, the R&B singer Cassie Ventura and a woman identified by the pseudonym "Jane."
The mogul's lawyers insisted that both Ventura and Jane were willing participants in marathon sexual encounters with male escorts in luxury hotel rooms. The defense didn't call any witnesses to the stand, but it used cross-examinations to portray Ventura and Jane as consenting adults and highlighted text messages in which both women expressed enthusiasm about "hotel nights."
Diddy, who had pleaded not guilty to all counts, still faces a raft of civil lawsuits accusing him of rape and sexual assault — and it remains to be seen whether he can ever recover his position at the height of American music, where he helped catapult hip-hop into a worldwide phenomenon.
Thank you for following along with us over the last two months. Stay tuned for more coverage of this case on NBCNews.com.
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