Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team is pressing a federal appeals court to undo what they describe as a deeply flawed prison sentence, arguing that the hip-hop mogul was punished for crimes a jury explicitly rejected.
According to the New York Post, in a late Tuesday filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, Combs’ attorneys asked judges to overturn his prostitution-related conviction outright or, at a minimum, send the case back for a reduced sentence.
They also urged the court to order his immediate release from custody.
Combs, 56, is currently serving a four-year, two-month sentence at a federal prison in New Jersey, with a projected release date in May 2028.
The appeal centers on the claim that U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian improperly relied on allegations tied to charges for which Combs was acquitted.
In July, a jury cleared the Bad Boy Records founder of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but convicted him on two counts under the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution.
According to the defense, those convictions involved offenses that did not require proof of force, fraud, or coercion. Yet Combs’ lawyers argue that the sentencing judge treated the case as though the jury had returned guilty verdicts on the most serious allegations.
“The judge defied the jury’s verdict and found Combs ‘coerced,’ ‘exploited,’ and ‘forced’ his girlfriends to have sex and led a criminal conspiracy,” the filing states. “These judicial findings trumped the verdict and led to the highest sentence ever imposed for any remotely similar defendant.”
The defense accused Subramanian of acting like a “thirteenth juror,” contending that his remarks at sentencing effectively overrode the jury’s conclusions.
At the October sentencing hearing, Subramanian said he considered testimony from two former girlfriends who described violent and degrading encounters during their relationships with Combs.
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. Jurors were also shown hotel surveillance footage depicting Combs dragging and striking her after one such encounter.
Another former girlfriend, identified in court only as “Jane,” testified that she felt pressured into participating in drug-fueled sexual encounters known as “hotel nights” between 2021 and 2024.
Rejecting the defense’s portrayal of those encounters, Subramanian said, “I reject the defense’s attempt to characterize what happened here as merely intimate, consensual experiences, or just a sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll story.”
“You abused the power and control that you had over the lives of women you professed to love dearly,” the judge added. “You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically.”
Combs’ attorneys argue those findings directly contradict the jury’s verdict and should not have influenced his sentence. The appeals court has not yet scheduled oral arguments.
