Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team has filed a motion requesting that the rap mogul be released on bond from the Brooklyn lockup where he has been jailed since September, claiming that his ongoing detention, after beating the bulk of the charges in his federal trial, is unwarranted.
In the motion filed on Tuesday to Judge Arun Subramanian, who presided over Combs’ high-profile federal trial where earlier this month he was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking but guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, the attorneys emphasize the unique nature of Combs’ situation and argue that holding him until sentencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is “inconsistent with Justice Department policy.”
“There are exceptional circumstances warranting a departure from mandatory detention and ensuring that Sean Combs is released,” the attorneys wrote in the 12-page legal motion.
The motion argues that Combs’ prosecution and continued incarceration are unique in the history of the Mann Act, the federal law that prohibits the interstate or foreign transportation of individuals to engage in prostitution. At his trial, prosecutors argued that Combs used his staff, power and influence to coerce two girlfriends into participating in “freak offs” — coordinated, drug-fueled sex marathons with hired male sex workers, which the rapper would watch and record while masturbating.
The jury ultimately did not buy that Combs had violated the RICO statute or engaged in sex trafficking but he was found guilty of the two lesser counts related to the Mann Act. His attorney argued for his immediate release after the verdict was read, but Subramanian opted to send Combs back to the Brooklyn jail until his Oct. 3 sentencing hearing.
Taking this set of circumstances, the lawyers point out in the motion that “there has literally never been a case like this one,” wherein a person remains jailed for paying for consensual sex involving a long-term adult partner.
“Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct. In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of john, and certainly the only person in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend, when he did not even have sex with the escort himself,” they wrote.
The motion also argues that the Mann Act typically applies to those seeking commercial gain through interstate transportation involving sex workers. Citing a 72-year-old Attorney’s Manual, the legal team notes that “as a general rule, prosecution should not be instituted in the so-called ‘non-commercial’ cases.”
Judge Subramanian noted Combs’ history of violence — the widely seen CCTV footage of Combs brutalizing his girlfriend, Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway was shown over a dozen times during his trial — in his decision to deny bail. In the letter, his attorneys argue that Combs poses no future danger, noting that before he was arrested, he had enrolled in a domestic violence program.
Combs’ attorneys seek his release on a $50 million bond and state that he would remain at his Miami residence and would only travel for purposes relating to his legal case. He would be released under the supervision of the U.S. Pretrial Services Agency and would surrender his passport.
Combs faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison for two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a potential sentence of 51 to 63 months. The defense has proposed a range of 21 to 27 months.
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