Attorneys for Sean Combs urged a federal appeals court on Thursday to speed up its decision on whether his 50-month prison sentence was improperly imposed. The Bad Boy founder, convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution, is serving his term at a low-security facility in New Jersey. The hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit focused on claims that the judge considered acquitted conduct during sentencing.
Sean Combs' lawyer Alexandra Shapiro argued during a two-hour hearing that U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian erred by factoring in acquitted charges of fraud and coercion when determining the sentence last October. Shapiro told the three-judge panel, “This case presents an important issue about respect for jury verdicts and public confidence in our criminal justice system.” She noted that multiple justices have questioned the constitutionality of sentencing based on acquitted conduct, according to her presentation in court. Combs, aged 56, did not attend the proceedings in New York. Combs was convicted last summer after an eight-week trial of causing male escorts to travel across state lines for sexual encounters called “freak-offs” involving his girlfriends Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman identified as Jane. A New York jury acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but found him guilty on two counts under the Mann Act related to prostitution. His release from Fort Dix is set for April 15, 2028, per the Bureau of Prisons. The judges questioned both sides intensely. One judge noted that it is constitutional to consider all relevant conduct for sentencing and asked why trial findings of psychological abuse, emotional abuse, and providing drugs to the women should be ignored. The panel also pressed Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik on why prosecutors treated the prostitution charges as secondary to their racketeering and trafficking theories, given the acquittals on those main counts. No timeline for a decision was provided, and the judges gave no hints on their leanings. This appeal forms part of Combs' efforts to leave prison sooner, including a separate challenge to overturn his conviction and a personal letter to President Donald Trump requesting a pardon.
