Sean ‘Diddy' Combs makes another bid at bond ahead of sentencing
Lawyers for the 55-year-old convicted Bad Boy Records founder, who was recently denied presentencing bail, argue that he should be released on $50 million bond and reside at his Miami home ahead of his Oct. 3 sentencing in New York, for two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, according to the filing viewed by the Daily News.
Each offense carries a sentence of up to 10 years, for a total of 20 years behind bars, though Diddy is unlikely to serve anywhere near that.
They state that no one in previous cases similar to Combs' has been prosecuted nor imprisoned by the Mann Act, and that those convicted in similar cases 'were released pending sentencing.'
Combs has been in custody at Brooklyn MDC since his arrest in September — after which he was continually denied bail — which his attorneys also insist 'justif[ies] release.'
'There has literally never been a case like this one, where a person and his girlfriend arranged for adult men to have consensual sexual relations with the adult long-term girlfriend as part of a demonstrated 'swingers' lifestyle and has been prosecuted and incarcerated under the Mann Act,' said Combs' legal team, who highlighted the 'racism and misogyny' central to the statute's 115-year-old initiation, when it was known as the White-Slave Traffic Act.
Combs' lawyers noted that, like most Mann Act defendants, he did not profit financially from engaging in transportation for prostitution.
'In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail or 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,' the motion says.
They added that Diddy remains behind bars while all other parties involved — including the sex workers, their agency, and state witnesses 'Jane' and Cassie Ventura 'walk free, as they should.'
They said there's a history of 'limited and restrained' punishments for non-commercial Mann Act offenses and that even more serious violations than Combs' incurred 'typically less punitive' punishment than what he's already served.
'The cases which involve defendants similarly situated to Mr. Combs have been released on bond pending sentencing,' per his lawyers.
In addition to dubbing a nearly 11-month detention an 'exceptional circumstance,' Combs' lawyers argue his 'safety is constantly at risk' at the notorious MDC, where conditions have been decried by another judge as 'unacceptable' and 'dreadful.'
Diddy's lawyers insist he's not a flight risk and pushed back against concerns he poses a danger to anyone. They point to a domestic violence program he enrolled in prior to his arrest: 'If released on conditions, Sean Combs will not be violent to anyone. … He will not squander his second chance at life.'
Combs was acquitted earlier this month on the more serious charges of federal sex trafficking and racketeering-related offenses, for which he could have faced life in prison.
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