A federal court has rejected a request from disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs to be released on bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges later this year.
In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian wrote that Combs had failed to prove there were any “exceptional” reasons why he should be released ahead of the October 3 sentencing.
The music entrepreneur’s pleas “might have traction in a case that didn’t involve evidence of violence, coercion, or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of all three,” Subramanian wrote, pointing to how at trial the mogul’s defense had admitted to Combs’s past “violence in his personal relationships.”
The Independent has contacted Combs’s lawyer for comment.
Combs was convicted in July on two prostitution-related counts while he was acquitted on more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges.
During the trial, witnesses provided lurid detail of what they said were Combs’s years of coercing girlfriends into “freak off” sex parties involving male escorts. Jurors watched video surveillance of the rapper attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in California in 2016.
The Bad Boy Records founder argued in a filing after his conviction that he was not a danger to the public and should be given bail. His defense claimed most of his history of violence happened more than a decade ago while he was addicted to drugs.
“This jury gave him his life back, and he will not squander his second chance at life, nor would he do anything to further jeopardize his seven children not having a father, and four of his children not having a parent at all,” his attorneys wrote.
The attorneys also pointed to what they said were poor conditions inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York, where Combs is being held, and to cases where individuals convicted on prostitution charges were released ahead of their sentencing. Combs’s team proposed signing a $50 million bond secured by his Miami home as part of the appeal.
As part of his appeal for bail, Diddy’s former girlfriend Virginia “Gina” Huynh submitted a letter on his behalf.
“Our relationship, like many, was not always perfect, we experienced ups and downs, and mistakes were made but he was willing to acknowledge his mistakes and make better decisions in the future,” she wrote.
Prosecutors opposed the bail request, arguing “the trial record is replete with evidence of the defendant’s acts of violence towards others.”
Combs could face up to 10 years in prison for each of his two convictions. Federal sentencing guidelines suggest he could face a lesser punishment of between four and just over five years in prison, though prosecutors have said his punishment could be “substantially higher.”
