Overview
- An appellate panel in New York heard arguments Thursday on Combs' bid to overturn his conviction and reduce his 50-month prison term.
- Defense lawyers argued the filmed, choreographed encounters were amateur pornography protected by the First Amendment rather than prostitution.
- The team also said the judge inflated the sentence by relying on acquitted conduct, pointing to new sentencing guidance that limits such use in guideline calculations.
- Prosecutors urged the court to uphold the verdict and sentence, saying filming paid sex does not convert it into speech and that threats and abuse were relevant to sentencing.
- A split jury in July 2025 convicted Combs on two transportation-for-prostitution counts and cleared him of trafficking and racketeering, and he remains at Fort Dix with a tentative April 15, 2028 release date.