Judge says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs must stay in jail until he is sentenced
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs can’t go home from jail to await sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said Monday, denying the rap and style mogul’s latest bid for bail.
Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted last month of the top charges — racketeering and sex trafficking — while being convicted of two counts of a prostitution-related offense.
In denying Combs’ $50 million bond proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip hop impresario hadn’t proven that he did not pose a flight risk or danger, nor shown an “exceptional circumstance” that would justify his release after a conviction that otherwise requires detention.
Combs’ arguments “might have traction in a case that didn’t involve evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of all three,” the judge wrote.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling. Messages seeking comment were sent to Combs’ lawyers.
The conviction carries the potential for up to 10 years in prison. But there are complicated federal guidelines for calculating sentences in any given case, and prosecutors and Combs’ lawyers disagree substantially on how the guidelines come out for his case.
The guidelines aren’t mandatory, and Subramanian will have wide latitude in deciding Combs’ punishment.
The Bad Boy Records founder, now 55, was for decades a protean figure in pop culture. A Grammy-winning hip hop artist and entrepreneur with a flair for finding and launching big talents, he presided over a business empire that ranged from fashion to reality TV.
Prosecutors claimed he used his fame, wealth and violence to force and manipulate two now-ex-girlfriends into days-long, drugged-up sexual performances he called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”