Sean ‘Diddy' Combs is denied bail, and will remain jailed until sentencing

Straits Times

3 hours ago

NEW YORK – A US federal judge on Aug 4 denied Sean Combs' request to be released on bail pending his sentencing for two prostitution-related convictions.
In July, at the conclusion of an eight-week trial, the music mogul was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. The case had accused him of coercing two long-term girlfriends into drug-fueled sexual encounters with male escorts.
But a jury found that Combs had violated the Mann Act, a federal law that makes it illegal to transport people over state lines for the purposes of prostitution. Those convictions carry a maximum sentence of 10 years apiece.
To secure his release, Combs would have had to prove that his case involves 'exceptional' circumstances, and that he does not pose a danger to others or a risk of flight. His lawyers offered a US$50 million (S$64 million) bond for his release, secured by his island mansion outside Miami.
After the verdict on July 2, Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs bail and found that he did pose a potential danger, pointing to the defence's admissions that he had been violent with two girlfriends.
Last week, Combs' lawyers asked the judge to reconsider and requested again that he be released on bail pending his sentencing, which has been scheduled for Oct 3. They asserted that Combs' case was 'exceptional', arguing that he and the women involved had participated in a consensual, 'swingers' lifestyle that involved threesomes, and that the jury found the women had not been coerced.
Combs' case, his lawyers argued, was a highly unusual use of the Mann Act, a law that was passed in 1910. Over the past 75 years, they said, that law has primarily been used to prosecute cases involving 'financial gain through the business of prostitution', not against 'johns' who make use of a prostitute's services.
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In his decision on Aug 4, the judge rejected the defence's argument that Combs' case was exceptional, and said that 'increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn't change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears'.
In his ruling, Subramanian again emphasised Combs' history of violence. The evidence presented at court included a security video showing Combs assaulting one of those women Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. Another former girlfriend, known at trial by the pseudonym 'Jane', testified that during a fight, Combs had kicked down doors to get to her, and punched and kicked her when she was lying on the ground.
'Combs' Mann Act arguments 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,' Subramanian wrote, 'but the record here contains evidence of all three'.
After the verdict, a lawyer for Ventura submitted a letter to the judge saying, 'Ms Ventura believes that Mr Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.'
But Combs' lawyers have insisted that he would not pose a threat if released, noting that he enrolled in a domestic violence programme before he was arrested in September.
On Aug 3, the defence submitted a letter to the judge from a former girlfriend of Combs', Virginia Huynh, whom prosecutors said had been subjected to his violence, though she did not testify. She wrote in support of his release, saying he had made 'visible efforts to become a better person.'
Based on federal sentencing guidelines, Combs' defence team had recommended a range of between 21 and 27 months in prison, topping out at just more than two years.
The government calculated a range of at least 51 to 63 months' imprisonment, or 4¼ to 5¼ years, but in a recent filing, prosecutors said that range could grow 'substantially higher'.
By the sentencing date, Combs will have spent more than a year in jail, which will be credited to his ultimate sentence. NYTIMES