Overview
- Combs was convicted in July on two counts of transporting people for prostitution and acquitted of sex-trafficking and extortion charges.
- Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him in October to 50 months in prison and a $500,000 fine, noting prior violent conduct including a 2016 video involving Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
- The appeal says the judge acted as a “thirteenth juror” by finding coercion and a conspiracy that the jury did not, claiming sentences in comparable cases are typically under 15 months.
- The defense also renews a First Amendment claim contending sexual interactions and recordings were protected expression, a theory previously rejected by the court.
- Combs is held at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey with a projected release in May 2028, and the Second Circuit has not yet heard arguments on the appeal.