Diddy took a major L in Manhattan federal court Tuesday after a judge shot down his attempt to get two prostitution-related convictions tossed—leaving him stuck with a sentencing date this Friday on serious Mann Act charges.
The 55-year-old Hip-Hop boss was convicted in July for flying male escorts across state lines to hook up with his exes.
That move violated the Mann Act, a century-old law meant to stop sex trafficking. Diddy’s legal squad tried to argue the whole thing was way overblown and basically about some wild “freak offs” between consenting adults.
“This is wildly out of proportion to the conduct at issue—threesomes where fully competent adult men and women voluntarily crossed state lines and had consensual sex with each other, and the defendant made no money from the conduct,” his lawyers wrote. “We are unaware of any other Mann Act prosecution based on such conduct.”
Judge Arun Subramanian wasn’t buying any of it. He clapped back with a no-nonsense ruling, saying the whole thing still fell under prostitution—even if Diddy wasn’t pocketing cash from it.
“To any modern reader, the plain meaning of prostitution is sex for sale. Every modern dictionary the Court consulted says the same thing,” the judge said. “What happened in this case was transportation for prostitution even under Combs’s understanding of the term: Combs transported the escorts (who were financially motivated) and intended for them to engage in prostitution.”
Diddy beat the bigger charges like sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, which could’ve landed him a life sentence. Still, those two Mann Act hits could cost him up to 20 years behind bars.
His defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro tried to paint him as a voyeur who liked filming his wild sex life, saying it was all covered by the First Amendment. But prosecutors weren’t going for that either. They said he paid his exes back for setting up the sex sessions, making him legally responsible.
The court testimony got graphic fast. Cassie, Jane Doe and other women told the court Diddy bankrolled the hookups and was way more than just a spectator.
Judge Subramanian broke it down in brutal detail: “Evidence at trial showed that when Combs filmed, he didn’t typically give notice ahead of time or ask for consent, as a film producer would; and that he masturbated, suggesting that the purpose was his immediate sexual gratification.”
It didn’t stop there. The judge added, “The evidence showed that Combs ‘and the escort would both … have intercourse’ with Ventura at the same time. And after Ventura or Jane finished having sex with an escort, Combs would have sex with Ventura or Jane, often while the escort’s semen was still on their body. At other times, Ventura would ‘put [the men’s] semen on [Combs], usually on his chest, on his nipples.’”
Yeah. That’s in the official court opinion.
With the judge locking in the convictions, federal prosecutors are now pushing hard for 11 years and 3 months behind bars, plus the biggest fine allowed. They say Diddy used threats and fear tactics and hasn’t shown the slightest bit of remorse.
They also told the court he’s “not accepted responsibility for his actions” and has a “pattern of abuse.”
On the flip side, Diddy’s lawyers are asking for a much lighter sentence. They claim he’s already served the equivalent of 14 months in pretrial lockup and want him to do the rest on house arrest. They also brought up his clean criminal record and the fact that he beat the more serious charges.
Judge Subramanian has denied him bail more than once, pointing to the seriousness of the case and concerns over public safety