Can Diddy be sentenced to 11 years of prison? Details explored as judge denies bid to vacate rapper's conviction

Rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected to be sentenced this Thursday, October 3. After a trial in May, Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation across state borders to engage in pr**titution but was found not guilty on charges related to racketeering and s*x trafficking in July, according to People Magazine,

The prosecution in Diddy’s case is demanding that the record producer face upwards of 11 years in prison, as per CNN. Diddy can be sentenced to 11 years if Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over his case, agrees with the federal prosecutors.

On the other hand, the Bad Boy Records founder’s defense team submitted a request to the judge to consider a sentence of 14 months, which, if granted, could result in him being freed soon, considering the time that he has already served, noted CNN.

According to the news outlet, the prosecution, in its filing to the judge appealed for a maximum fine of $500,000, and wrote,

“Time and again he has shown that he is concerned only with his own power and control. Only a significant term of imprisonment—meted out in a substantial number of years— can effectively deter him and show future victims that their abusers will be held accountable, no matter their wealth or fame.”

The judge disagreed with Diddy’s defense in his refusal to vacate the music producer’s conviction

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers submitted a request to the judge in his case to vacate his conviction or to conduct a new trial, which would only consider the pr**titution charges levelled against the rapper, according to The New York Times. The request was based on the claim that Diddy was prosecuted unfairly for s*xual activity which was consensual, citing the Mann Act, as per the publication.

Diddy was found guilty of transporting male escorts across state lines to engage in s*xual activity with his former girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and a woman identified solely as Jane, in drug-propelled sessions known as “freak offs,” according to CNN.

As per USA Today, the music producer’s lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, while arguing for the verdict’s overturning, told the judge,

“What we're left with is a case about adults who traveled interstate and participated in a threesome.”

According to the news outlet, the defense also sought to characterize Diddy’s s*xual misconduct as “commercial voyeurism,” claiming that he did not, in fact, engage in pr**titution.

While refusing the request, Judge Arun Subramanian, as per The New York Times, wrote,

“The government at trial presented overwhelming evidence of Combs’s guilt under the Mann Act on many occasions with respect to both Ventura and Jane…the government proved its case many times over.”

According to Reuters, the defense argued that Diddy was not financially motivated and the music mogul also did not engage in the s*xual activity for which he transported escorts. The judge negated this line of argument, which he said, as per their news agency, “would narrow prostitution almost out of existence.”

The judge also wrote that the verdict in Diddy’s trial stands, and added,

“His conviction raises no constitutional problem.”

While making his decision, the judge also considered letters submitted by the prosecution, which were written by Cassie Ventura and her parents and some of Diddy’s ex-employees, all of whom appealed to the judge to take cognizance of the music producer’s victims’ experiences, noted CNN.