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The music mogul Sean Combs is due to receive sentencing on Friday morning by a federal judge in New York City, after his guilty verdict earlier this year on federal prostitution-related charges.

This article provides a summary of his criminal case: the charges he faced, the trial events, and what might happen next.

What Charges Was He Convicted On?

During July, after an eight-week trial, a jury convicted Combs of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, racketeering and human trafficking, which could have resulted in the possibility of a life sentence.

The charges on which he was found guilty each have a maximum sentence of 10 years. Combs had entered a not guilty plea to all of the charges.

Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversaw the case, will deliver the ruling on Friday, with the hearing due to begin at 10:00 AM Eastern Time in federal district court in downtown Manhattan.

Combs, fifty-five, has been held without bail at the Brooklyn metropolitan detention center since his arrest in September last year. Since the verdict, the judge has denied multiple bail applications from Combs’s lawyers, and recently Subramanian also denied a request to set aside the guilty verdicts.

What Was Combs Accused Of?

Federal prosecutors accused the Bad Boy Records founder of using his power, fame, wealth and influence, and employing intimidation and coercion, to force two of his former girlfriends into engaging in drug-fueled sexual marathons with male escorts. Such sessions were often called by the accused as “freak-offs”, which prosecutors claimed Combs organized, watched, masturbated to and occasionally recorded.

The government alleged that for over twenty years, Combs operated a criminal enterprise – assisted by staff and allies – to conduct and conceal crimes including sex-trafficking, drug dealing, bribery and kidnapping.

Despite being convicted on two counts, Combs has disputed wrongdoing. His attorneys have maintained that all sexual activity was mutually agreed and that no criminal enterprise existed.

What Happened At Trial?

The government's case called over thirty witnesses, including two of Combs’s former girlfriends – artist Cassie Ventura and another woman who gave evidence using the alias Jane – who recounted the alleged events in graphic detail, and claimed that Combs coerced and threatened them into participating.

Ventura was the star prosecution witness. She testified that during her 11-year, on-off relationship with Combs, he exposed her to physical, sexual and emotional abuse and to extortion. The court was presented with the 2016 video of Combs assaulting Ventura in a hallway. Jane also testified of a violent altercation with Combs.

Additional testimony included ex-staff, male escorts, law enforcement agents, hotel staff and public figures including rapper Kid Cudi and artist Dawn Richard. Combs chose not to take the stand.

Combs’s defense attorneys admitted past instances of domestic violence, but denied that any coercion or trafficking took place. They argued that every sexual act was consensual and part of a “alternative lifestyle”, and contended that Ventura and Jane were willing participants in the sex acts.

What Sentence Could He Serve?

Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a sentence of a maximum of 14 months in prison, which, given time already served, would permit his freedom before the end of the year. They argue that Combs has already been “adequately punished” by spending over a year in the “terrible conditions” at the facility.

Federal prosecutors, however, have sought at least 135 months (over a decade) and a half-million-dollar penalty. In legal documents, they described Combs as “unrepentant” and said that “his history and characteristics demonstrate years of abuse and violence.

What Was Said In Victim Impact Statements?

The prosecution submitted several victim impact statements to the court before the sentencing, including one from Ventura.

“Although the jurors did not seem to grasp or accept that I engaged in the events because of the force and coercion the accused used against me, I know that is the truth, and his sentence should reflect the reality of the testimony and my lived experience as a victim,” Ventura stated.

“I am so fearful that if he walks free, his first actions will be immediate revenge towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse, at trial,” she said.

“If there is one thing I have gained from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be secure,” she added. “I hope that your ruling takes into account the facts at hand that the panel failed to see.”

What Happens Next?

Following the court's decision, Combs’s attorneys could challenge the decision. Combs’s team is also expected to contest his conviction.

Additionally, Combs is confronting dozens of civil cases accusing him of sexual assault and further offenses. He has disputed every claim in those proceedings.