Sean “Diddy” Combs’ request for a new trial or an acquittal in his federal case has been denied, just ahead of his sentencing on Friday.
Judge Arun Subramanian declared in a filing on Tuesday evening that the court was not persuaded by arguments made for either potential outcome in his case. Combs’ counsel argued that his recordings of sex acts with male escorts were technically amateur pornography, which they said was protected under the First Amendment. They also claimed that he deserved a new trial because his RICO and sex trafficking counts should not have been joined together with his Mann Act counts, which they say prejudiced the jury against him on the latter charges.
In his ruling, Subramanian stated that Combs failed to carry his “heavy burden” of showing spillover prejudice to the jury, as he was found not guilty of the more serious RICO and sex trafficking charges. “The government proved its case many times over,” wrote Subramanian. “That by itself might be enough to dispose of Combs’s challenge. […] Had the prejudice indeed been so great, one would expect a jury to convict on the most relevant counts before it could spill over and infect the others. A new trial is not warranted.”
On Monday evening, prosecutors filed a 164-page memorandum that recommended no less than 11 years of imprisonment, claiming that he is “unrepentant” and that “the punishment for his crimes of conviction must take into account the manner in which he committed them.” The government previously suggested that he serve a sentence of four to five years.
Last week, Combs’ attorneys argued that he should serve no more than 14 months in prison, claiming that he’d been punished enough. Along with the filing, Combs’ former girlfriend Yung Miami and producer Dallas Austin submitted letters of support, as did inmates who had taken Combs’ “Free Game” course.
Combs was found guilty in July on two counts of transportation for prostitution, but dodged more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
