Federal prosecutors have officially responded to Sean “Diddy“ Combs’ criminal appeal, saying there’s no basis to disturb the fallen hip-hop titan’s prostitution conviction and four-year prison sentence.
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Combs is pursuing a fast-tracked appeal following his blockbuster summer trial in New York, in which jurors rejected sex-trafficking and racketeering charges but found him guilty of arranging drug-fueled sex marathons (known as “freak-offs”) between his girlfriends and male escorts. The 56-year-old mogul is now serving time at the Fort Dix federal prison with a projected 2028 release date.
In a comprehensive appellate brief submitted at the end of the year, Combs’ lawyers argued that Judge Arun Subramanian improperly acted as a “13th juror” to impose an overly-harsh punishment inconsistent with the verdict. They said the judge shouldn’t have factored in evidence tied to the counts of acquittal — that is, testimony that Combs used violence and threats to force Cassie Ventura and another girlfriend to participate in freak-offs.
Responding to this argument in their own 83-page brief on Friday (Feb. 20), prosecutors countered that Judge Subramanian went by the book at Combs’ fall sentencing hearing. They said there’s no way to know what evidence the jury found credible — and regardless, binding Supreme Court precedent allows judges to consider so-called “acquitted conduct” at sentencing.
“Combs seeks an unprecedented rule against consideration of any conduct that could have also supported a conviction on an acquitted count,” wrote the prosecutors. “That rule would eliminate sentencing judges’ long-recognized discretion to engage in fact-finding to aid their sentencing decisions, forcing them to blind their eyes to the actual conduct of each defendant before them.”
In addition to challenging Combs’ prison sentence, his lawyers are also fighting to overturn the verdict itself. Combs was found guilty of violating a federal prostitution statute known as the Mann Act by transporting people across state lines for paid sex.
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The defense attorneys have made the case that this conviction runs afoul of constitutional free speech protections because Combs filmed the freak-offs to create “amateur pornography.” Prosecutors urged the appeals court to reject this argument in Friday’s brief, saying that Combs “did not engage in anything resembling the conduct of an adult film producer.”
“Combs’s intent to watch the sex sessions live cannot bring his interstate transportation of others to have sex for money within the First Amendment’s protection,” wrote prosecutors. “Were it otherwise, any defendant who transported others to engage in prostitution could escape liability simply by watching or filming the sex.”
A rep for Combs did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday (Feb. 23).
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are set to face off against each other at oral arguments in April at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. A panel of three appellate judges will issue a ruling in the months that follow. If Combs loses, his next step would be to petition the Supreme Court for review.
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