ALBAWABA - Prosecutors now seek a much longer prison term for Sean "Diddy" Combs while strongly opposing his bail.
When Sean "Diddy" Combs was found guilty of two prostitution-related charges, prosecutors first thought he would likely get four to five years in jail. But now, they think he could get a "substantially higher" sentence.
They said this late Thursday night in a written statement to a federal court in Manhattan. In it, they also said they didn't agree with Combs' request this week to be freed on $50 million bail while he waits for his sentencing on October 3.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, 55, was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have led to life in prison in early July. However, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for setting up girlfriends and male sex workers to travel to have sexual encounters that he filmed.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 25: Sean "Diddy" Combs (by Phillip Faraone / Getty Images via AFP)
Each charge of prostitution gets a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
After the decision, prosecutors said they thought a four- to five-year prison sentence would be in line with federal sentencing standards that are meant to keep different people from getting very different sentences for the same crimes. But on Thursday, they said they think the range of the standards "will be substantially higher," which makes it more likely that Combs will run away.
When deciding on a sentence, Judge Arun Subramanian will have a lot of freedom and doesn't have to follow the standards. Lawyers for Combs have said that they think the rules, if used correctly, will call for 21 to 27 months in prison.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
When defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs should be freed on bail right away on the day of the decision, the prosecutors won a bail fight.
Subramanian said no to the defense's request, saying Combs had not shown by clear and convincing proof that there was "no danger to any person or the community." He did say that Agnifilo could ask again, though.
Tuesday, Agnifilo did this by referring to other cases where suspects were given bail that he said were similar to Combs' conviction. He also said that the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Combs has been held since being arrested at a New York hotel in September, was in bad shape.
He also said that Combs was being treated unfairly because he lived a "swingers" lifestyle and sometimes asked male sex workers to join him and his girlfriends for three- or four-day marathon sex performances.
In their filing on Thursday, prosecutors said that Combs had to stay in jail before being sentenced because he was found guilty of prostitution-related charges, unless he could show special circumstances, which they said he could not.
They also said he should stay in jail because he was a threat to the community. In his papers, Agnifilo argued against this claim.
I promise that Sean Combs will not hurt anyone. Agnifilo wrote earlier this week, "As we said in court, this jury gave him his life back. He will not waste his second chance at life, and he will not do anything that would put his seven children without a father or any parent at all in further danger."
Prosecutors also said that things were a lot better at the federal prison before Combs was caught. A federal judge had criticized the jail's conditions in January 2024, saying that it had too many lockdowns and not enough medical care.
Prosecutors said that the cases that Agnifilo brought up where other suspects were released on bail were not similar to the crimes that Combs was found guilty of, especially since he was violent.
"The defendant's extensive history of violence—and his continued attempt to minimize his recent violent conduct—demonstrates his dangerousness and that he is not amenable to supervision," they said. "The defendant utterly fails to establish by clear and convincing evidence, as required, that he does not pose a danger to the community."
