Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs urged a federal appeals court on Thursday to immediately release the imprisoned music mogul and toss his conviction on prostitution-related charges.
Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro told a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that Combs, 56, had been improperly sentenced to four years and two months in prison by Judge Arun Subramanian because he considered conduct involving fraud and coercion, allegations which a jury rejected last year.
“This case presents an important issue about a respect for jury verdicts and public confidence in our criminal justice system,” Shapiro told the judges during Thursday’s proceeding, which Combs did not attend.
The three-judge panel did not indicate when it would issue a ruling in Combs’ appeal.
Combs’ attorneys have said in court filings that 12 jurors attentively listened to emotional testimony given by his former girlfriends and viewed thousands of text messages, emails and video of sexual encounters.
“Those twelve citizens diligently applied the law to that evidence and unanimously rejected the government’s sordid tale of coercion and racketeering,” Combs’ attorneys wrote. “The verdict could not have been clearer or more consistent. The jury found Combs not guilty of forcing, coercing, or defrauding Casandra Ventura. The jury found Combs not guilty of forcing, coercing, or defrauding Jane (a pseudonym for trial). And the jury found Combs not guilty of RICO conspiracy. That verdict is an ‘affirmative indication of innocence.'”
Subramanian doled out a “remarkably long sentence” based on “coercion and other acquitted conduct,” Combs’ attorneys alleged.
“The jury did find Combs guilty of two lesser counts — prostitution offenses that didn’t require force, fraud, or coercion,” defense attorneys wrote. “Defendants typically get sentenced to less than 15 months for these offenses — even when coercion, which the jury didn’t find here, is involved. But Combs got a sentence more than three times as long, despite the acquittals. He sits in prison today, serving a 50-month sentence, because the district judge acted as a thirteenth juror.”
Combs’ legal team had also argued in court filings that recordings of Combs with girlfriends and male sex workers during “highly choreographed sexual performances” amounted to “amateur pornography” that should be protected by the First Amendment.
Combs had faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each prostitution-related conviction. Prosecutors had sought more than 11 years, arguing he was “unrepentant” and committed acts of violence that left victims in fear.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik countered Shapiro’s argument on Thursday by insisting Subramanian correctly considered evidence of threats and abuse by Combs since the conduct had been relevant to the prostitution charges. The district judge had properly applied the law, she said.
“He unequivocally and explicitly stated he would impose the same sentence regardless of the acquitted conduct guideline,” Slavik told the three-judge panel of Subramanian. “He considered the arguments of all the parties.”
A jury in Manhattan acquitted the music mogul of racketeering and sex trafficking following a sensational, star-studded eight-week trial in July, but found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — a violation of the federal Mann Act, which prohibits traveling across state lines for any sexual crime. He was later sentenced to 50 months in prison in October. Judge Arun Subramanian also imposed a maximum fine of $500,000.
Combs, who did not testify during trial, characterized his past behavior as “disgusting, shameful and sick” in a statement delivered at his sentencing hearing, telling Subramanian that his mother and faith had instilled better values.
“I’m not this larger-than-life person,” Combs said in October. “I’m just a human being.”
The judge was largely unmoved, however, telling Combs he wasn’t an ordinary “John,” but instead someone who “physically, emotionally and psychologically” abused his victims.
“This is a serious sentence that reflects the gravity of your crimes and conduct,” Subramanian told Combs in October, adding the father of seven can still look toward the future. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Casandra Ventura, who was Combs’ longtime girlfriend, and another woman identified solely as “Jane” testified during last year’s trial that he coerced them into participating in drug-fueled sexual encounters, sometimes referred to as “freak-offs,” with male sex workers. Prosecutors alleged the music mogul used his wealth and influence to manipulate and control his partners while flying them across the country.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik called Combs the “master puppeteer of his own image” during October’s sentencing hearing, insisting the public he cultivated was “incomplete and misleading.” She argued that 2016 surveillance footage showing Combs assaulting Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel was a stark contrast to his carefully managed reputation.
Combs, who is currently held at a low-security prison in New Jersey, is scheduled to be released from federal custody in April 2028, according to Bureau of Prisons records.
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