Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a last‑ditch bid for a Christmas‑time reprieve, asking a federal appeals court to free him from prison or overturn the convictions that stem from his harrowing sex‑crime trial.
In a filing dated December 23, Combs’ lawyers argued that Judge Arun Subramanian, who presided over the high‑profile Manhattan case, “acted as a thirteenth juror” when handing down a four‑year‑and‑two‑month sentence. The jurors had found Combs guilty of only two lower‑level prostitution counts, not the more serious sex‑trafficking and racketeering charges. ““It was unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice to sentence Combs, 56, as if the jury had found him guilty of sex trafficking and RICO,”” lawyer Alexandra Shapiro wrote in the appeal.
The appeal asks the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to either order Combs’ immediate release from the New Jersey facility where he is serving his term or reverse the July conviction on two counts of breaching the Mann Act. The court typically holds oral arguments before ruling, but no date has yet been set for this case, leaving the appeal as a sort of Hail Mary for the holiday season.
Judge Subramanian cited extensive evidence of violence displayed during the trial in his sentencing decision. Although the sentence—50 months—was lighter than the 6‑to‑7‑year term advised by federal guidelines, the defense contended that the judge “illegally and dramatically increased the sentence,” arguing that the jury had not found any evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs coerced the women into sex acts. “He sits in prison today, serving a 50‑month sentence, because the district judge acted as a thirteenth juror,” Shapiro reiterated.
During the trial, Cassie Ventura, who was nine months pregnant while giving testimony, described how “he beat her for years and pressured her into hundreds of humiliating freak‑off ‘performances’ with male sex workers.” Another former partner, who identified herself only as “Jane,” recounted how Combs told her “Is this coercion?” before forcing her into an abusive “freak‑off” after beating her for hours.
Subramanian delivered his ruling with a stern tone: “You abused the power and control that you had over the lives of women you professed to love dearly.” He went on to say, “You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Why did it happen so long? Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught.” He concluded that a meaningful sentence was necessary to protect the public from future crimes.
Combs remains behind bars in a low‑security state prison while the appellate process unfolds.
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