Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys have asked that he be released on a $1 million bond, while prosecutors said he remains a “danger” and have asked the judge not to set bail.
NEED TO KNOW
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys have asked that he be released on a $1 million bond
- Prosecutors said he remains a “danger” and have asked the judge not to set bail
- Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering but convicted on prostitution-related charges
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ attorneys have said they expect him to be sentenced to about two years in prison after he was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution on Wednesday, July 2.
That sentence is much less than the 51 to 63 months sentence that prosecutors have recommended.
The two sides addressed Combs’ potential sentence in separate letters to the judge overseeing the case. Combs has already spent 10 months in custody.
Combs was acquitted on Wednesday morning of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He was accused of sex trafficking two of his former girlfriends — Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, and a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” — and of forcing them to participate in drug-fueled sex sessions with male escorts that he called “freak offs” or “hotel nights.” Combs had denied all the charges and said that the sexual acts were consensual.
In their letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, Combs’ attorneys promised the judge overseeing his federal case that he will not contact escorts or prostitutes if he is released on bond. His attorneys asked that he be released on a $1 million bond, co-signed by his mother, sister and Sarah Chapman, the mother of his oldest daughter, Chance.
Prosecutors asked the judge not to set bail, saying in their letter to Judge Subramanian that Combs remains a danger to the community because he could still commit prostitution crimes and because in June 2024 — three months before his arrest and while he was aware he was under federal investigation — he allegedly “brutally assaulted” Jane. And, they alleged, when he was in New York City awaiting his arrest last year, he was in possession of drugs and materials associated with a “Freak off.”
But Combs’ lawyers rejected the government’s suggestion that he could still be a danger because “he still had the means and ability to commit prostitution crimes.”
“With all due respect, that suggestion is unsupported,” Combs’ attorneys wrote. “The government had, for an extended period of time, a pen register on his phone. Mr. Combs never called any potential escorts or prostitutes, nor did he make any effort to arrange meetings with escorts or prostitutes, nor was he with Jane in New York.”
Combs’ attorneys wrote that reasonable conditions would ensure that he would not have the ability to arrange meetings with escorts. Combs could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison on the transportation for prostitution charges — 10 years for each charge. He will be sentenced at a later date.
The hearing on whether Combs will be released on bond is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET.
