In this courtroom sketch, Sean "Diddy" Combs reacts after he was convicted of prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Manhattan federal court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Republished July 29, 2025 - 3:36 PM
Original Publication Date July 29, 2025 - 2:16 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is asking a judge to free him on a $50 million bond while he awaits sentencing in October after a jury found him not guilty of the most serious federal charges he faced earlier this month.
In a court filing Tuesday, Combs’ lawyer argued that conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn are dangerous, noting that others convicted of similar prostitution-related offenses were typically released before sentencing.
“Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct,” Marc Agnifilo said. “In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of john, and certainly the only person in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors have previously insisted he remains a flight risk.
Combs, 55, faces up to a decade in prison on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, for sexual encounters. A conviction on racketeering conspiracy or sex trafficking could have put one of hip-hop’s celebrated figures in prison for life.
Immediately after he was acquitted on July 2, Agnifilo had asked that Combs be released on bond.
But Judge Arun Subramanian denied it, saying Combs at the time had not met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a “lack of danger to any person or the community.”
Combs is the latest celebrity inmate to be locked up at MDC Brooklyn, the only federal jail in New York City, joining a list that includes R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
News from © The Associated Press, 2025