Sean Combs, Awaiting Sentencing, Asks Judge to Release Him From Jail
Mr. Combs, known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, was acquitted of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy at the conclusion of a trial that lasted eight weeks.
After the music mogul's conviction on July 2, the judge, Arun Subramanian, denied his lawyers' request to have him released from detention pending his sentencing, saying that Mr. Combs's history of domestic violence showed that he could pose a danger to others.
During Mr. Combs's trial, prosecutors argued that the executive acted as a kingpin of a criminal organization and that he coerced two long-term girlfriends to participate in ritualized sexual encounters with male escorts. Among the evidence presented at court was a security video showing Mr. Combs assaulting one of those women, Casandra Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel.
Had Mr. Combs been convicted of racketeering or sex trafficking, he could have faced life in prison. But the jury largely rejected the government's portrayal of the famed producer, finding him guilty only of two prostitution-related counts under the Mann Act, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
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