A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday rejected Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attempt to overturn his felony prostitution-related conviction, clearing the way for prosecutors to seek more than 11 years in prison for the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul at his upcoming sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan said there was “overwhelming evidence of Combs’ guilt,” citing testimony from R&B singer Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, and another woman identified in court as Jane.
Both women told jurors that Combs physically assaulted them and forced them to participate in drug-fueled sexual performances, known as “Freak Offs,” with male prostitutes he arranged to travel across state lines.
Prosecutors said Combs watched, recorded videos, and masturbated during the encounters, while threatening to cut off financial support if the women resisted.
“The government proved its case many times over,” Judge Subramanian wrote in his ruling, rejecting Combs’ claim that evidence from his acquitted racketeering and sex trafficking charges had unfairly influenced the prostitution case.
Combs was convicted on July 2 of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution after an eight-week trial, though he had pleaded not guilty. He has been in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his September 16, 2024 arrest and is expected to appeal.
Prosecutors have asked the court to impose a 135-month sentence, roughly 11¼ years, citing decades of violence, drug use, and coercion. “There is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised,” they wrote in a sentencing memo.
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, are urging a far lighter sentence of no more than 14 months, which could allow Combs to be released this year with credit for time served.
In a victim impact statement, Ventura accused Combs of using threats, violence, and drugs to trap her into years of abuse beginning at age 19. “Sex acts became my full-time job,” she wrote, describing how his power eroded her independence until she “felt no choice but to submit.”
Judge Subramanian also rejected Combs’ arguments that the Mann Act did not apply because he did not personally pay for sex or participate in it. He ruled that the law clearly covered Combs’ conduct, noting that escorts transported for prostitution were financially motivated and that filming the acts did not protect him under the First Amendment.
Combs, who founded Bad Boy Records and became a towering figure in American music and culture, now faces a sharp fall from grace as he awaits sentencing on October 3.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
