On Tuesday, attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs filed an expedited appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to order his immediate release and either grant a judgment of acquittal or vacate his conviction and remand for resentencing. Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence for two interstate prostitution convictions.
A jury convicted Combs this summer on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, while he was acquitted on two more serious charges: racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. In his appeal, Combs argues that prosecutors failed to prove their case and that his girlfriends and third parties were adults who "willingly and enthusiastically" participated in so-called "freak-offs" — days-long, drug-fueled sexual encounters.
Alexandra Shapiro, Combs' appellate attorney, asserts that his sentence was illegal and that U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian imposed a "draconian" sentence based on acquitted conduct, specifically the racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. Shapiro argues that Subramanian erroneously concluded that he could consider those acquitted charges and enhance Combs' sentence, thus violating his constitutional rights.
In her 84-page filing, Shapiro states that Combs should be sentenced only for what he was convicted of: interstate transportation of adults for voluntary prostitution. She argues that despite the acquittals on the more serious charges, Combs received a sentence three times longer than he should have because "the district judge acted as a thirteenth juror."
After an eight-week federal trial in New York, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison, fined $500,000, and ordered to serve five years of supervised release. His expected release date is May 25, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. When he was sentenced in October, his attorneys argued that the term was unconstitutional and promised to file an expedited appeal. That speedy appeal process was granted last month.
In the filing, Shapiro states that the appeal has been expedited because her client has already served nearly 16 months of his sentence, which she says is more than the average sentence for what he was convicted of. "If the court does not overturn Combs's conviction, it should release him immediately and instruct the district court to resentence him only for the conduct of which he was convicted," the filing reads.
The 2nd Circuit rarely overturns district court rulings, and the U.S. government's brief in the appeals process is due by February 20, with Combs' team's reply due by March 13.
