Diddy seeks immediate prison release
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is seeking his immediate release from prison as part of an appeal filed by his legal team with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The bid comes after he was sentenced in October to four years and two months in federal prison following a conviction on prostitution-related charges under the Mann Act.
Combs’ lawyers argue that the sentencing judge, Arun Subramanian, made a legal error by allowing evidence related to more serious allegations for which Combs was acquitted to influence the length of his sentence. They contend that this approach improperly expanded the scope of what the jury found, effectively acting as a “thirteenth juror” and leading to a harsher punishment than what is typical for the offences of which Combs was convicted. The defence pointed out that sentences for similar convictions are usually less than 15 months, even when coercion issues are considered.
In the appeal filing, Combs’ legal team has asked the appeals court to either overturn his conviction entirely, order his immediate release from prison, or send the case back to Judge Subramanian with instructions to reduce the sentence to one more in line with guidelines for the offences actually proven at trial. The appeals court has not yet scheduled oral arguments in the case.
Combs, 56, is currently incarcerated at a federal prison in New Jersey and is not scheduled for release until May 2028 under his current sentence. He was acquitted earlier in 2025 of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges at a high-profile trial, but convicted only on the lesser prostitution-related counts.
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