Nearly a week after Sean Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking two ex-girlfriends and racketeering conspiracy, the hip-hop mogul will be sentenced on Oct. 3 for his conviction on lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Although the 55-year-old’s high-powered defense team had asked Judge Arun Subramanian for an expedited hearing process — originally rebuffing the proposed date — just before Tuesday afternoon’s scheduled hearing, they agreed to the early October date.
Combs is currently awaiting sentencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’s been held since his September arrest. (Judge Subramanian previously noted the time Combs has already spent in jail will go towards his ultimate sentence.)
The defense is pushing for Combs to receive a minimum sentence, which they said was between 21 to 27 months. Meanwhile, Southern District of New York prosecutors said the sentencing guidelines called for 51 to 63 months imprisonment, noting they’d likely be seeking an even longer incarceration period.
After an intense eight-week criminal trial, a jury of eight men and four women cleared Combs of sex trafficking his former girlfriends Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and the pseudonymous “Jane.” Both women tearfully testified the Bad Boy Entertainment founder allegedly forced them to have sex with male escorts, in what they knew as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights,” throughout their respective relationships.
Prosecutors labeled Combs’ loyal personal team — including personal assistants, chief of staffs and bodyguards — as a criminal enterprise involved in a racketeering conspiracy. They claimed these staffers helped facilitate drug-induced freak-offs by arranging the women’s travel, setting up hotel suites with baby oil and sex toys, and dropping illicit substances off to Combs at all hours of the night.
The jury rejected the government’s claim of racketeering conspiracy, but did find Combs guilty of paying for male escorts’ flights to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and other destinations so they could have sex with his girlfriends while he watched. After the sexual encounters, the men were handed stacks of cash.
Combs vehemently denied the charges and his attorneys accused the government of unfairly targeting the mogul in a broad overreach of power. They conceded that Combs was physically violent with his romantic partners, but continually repeated the phrase, “domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
As the jury exited the courtroom last Wednesday, an overwhelmed Combs dropped to his knees and thanked God — clearly relieved that charges that called for a life sentence had just been significantly reduced. Speaking to Combs’ children after the verdict, Combs’ lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo reminded them that although Combs was denied release from detention prior to sentencing, his acquittal on the more serious charges was a massive feat. “Today is a great day,” he said. “He gets his life back with all of you.”
In light of Combs’ acquittal on the more severe charges, Combs was hopeful that he’d be granted release pending sentencing. However, Judge Subramanian quickly denied the motion saying Combs had not met his burden of proof that he’d pose no danger to the community.
Still, Agnifilo said they weren’t “nearly done fighting.” Speaking outside the courthouse last Wednesday, he added, “We’re not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family.”
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