New York (New York, USA), 24 December (LaPresse/AP) – Lawyers representing American rapper and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs have asked the Federal Court of Appeals in New York to immediately release their client from prison and revoke his conviction for prostitution-related offences or, alternatively, reduce his four-year sentence. In a document filed with the appeals court, the lawyers stated that Combs was treated harshly by the judge who imposed the sentence, who allegedly allowed evidence relating to charges of which he had been acquitted to unfairly influence the sentence. Combs, 56, who is being held in a federal prison in New Jersey, was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a trial that ended in July. The hip-hop mogul was convicted under the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of people across state lines for any sexual offence. He is scheduled for release in May 2028. According to Combs' lawyers, Judge Arun Subramanian acted as a ‘thirteenth juror’ in October when he sentenced Combs – found guilty on two counts – to four years and two months in prison. 'Defendants are typically sentenced to less than 15 months for these offences, even when coercion is recognised, which the jury did not find in this case,' the lawyers wrote. The judge overruled the jury's verdict and found that Combs had “coerced”, “exploited” and “forced” his girlfriends into sexual relations and led a criminal organisation. These judicial conclusions prevailed over the verdict and led to the highest sentence ever imposed on a defendant in a remotely similar case.
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