NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs cannot be released from jail to await sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said Monday, denying the latest bail request from the rap and fashion magnate.
Combs has been behind bars since his arrest in September. He faced federal charges of coercing his girlfriends into drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted last month of the major charges — racketeering and sex trafficking — while he was convicted on two counts of a prostitution-related offense.
Denying Combs’ $50 million bail proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop entrepreneur had failed to show that he did not pose a flight risk or danger, adding that the record did not show an “exceptional circumstance” warranting his release after a conviction that otherwise requires detention.
Combs’ arguments “could carry weight in a case that did not involve evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in relation to the prostitution acts in question, but the record here contains evidence of all three,” the judge wrote.
Messages seeking comment were sent to prosecutors and to one of Combs’ lawyers.
The conviction carries the possibility of up to ten years in prison. But there are complex federal guidelines for calculating sentences in any given case, and prosecutors and Combs’ lawyers disagree substantially on how they apply to his case.
The guidelines are not mandatory, and Subramanian will have broad latitude to determine Combs’ punishment.
The founder of Bad Boy Records, now 55, has long been a protean presence in pop culture. A Grammy-winning rapper and entrepreneur with a knack for spotting and launching major talents, he built an empire that stretched from fashion to reality television.
Prosecutors said he used his fame, wealth and violence to coerce and manipulate two ex-girlfriends into prolonged drugged sexual acts that he called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
His lawyers argued that the government sought to criminalize consensual sexual preferences, albeit unconventional, that played out in complicated relationships. The defense acknowledged that Combs had violent outbursts, but said nothing he did amounted to the crimes he’s charged with.
Since the verdict, his lawyers have repeatedly renewed efforts to bring him out on bail until his sentencing, scheduled for October. They argued that the acquittals undermine the justification for detaining him and have pointed to others who were released before sentencing after similar convictions.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo suggested in a court filing that Combs was the “only person in the United States in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend.”
The latest defense proposal included a $50 million bail, travel restrictions, and signaled willingness to add home detention at his Miami home, electronic monitoring, private security guards and other requirements.
Prosecutors opposed releasing Combs. They wrote that his “extensive history of violence — and his ongoing attempt to minimize his recent violent conduct — demonstrates his danger and that he is not amenable to supervision.”
