Sean Diddy appeals with US court to overturn 4-year prison sentence

Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs have asked a United States appeals court to overturn the hip-hop star’s prison sentence of more than four years over prostitution-related offences.

Combs, 56, was sentenced in October after a highly publicised trial that exposed details of what prosecutors described as “freak-offs” alleged sexual encounters involving hired male escorts, his former partner Casandra Ventura, and another unidentified woman.

Although the jury cleared him of the most serious accusations, including sex trafficking and racketeering, he was found guilty on two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution.

His legal team is now challenging the conviction and sentence, arguing before the appeals court that the ruling should be set aside.

The disgraced artist was not present at the Manhattan courthouse on Thursday as defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro sought to persuade a three-judge panel that Combs’s sentence of four years and two months was unfairly long for his crimes.

“The evidence the judge was relying on was totally separate and in fact was acquitted conduct,” Shapiro said.

She said District Judge Arun Subramanian should not have considered evidence that Combs made threats against Ventura and the other woman as it was related to the acquitted charges.

Prosecutors disagreed and pointed to an instance where Combs showed Ventura he had videos of her engaging in sex parties hours before another “freak-off” in an apparent bid to ensure her continued participation.

“These incidents are specifically tied to transportation,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the court.

In a sign of the complex legal arguments, Slavik at one point drew an analogy of pizza to highlight how certain “slices” of evidence were relevant to the ultimate sentencing decision.

The court did not issue an immediate ruling in what one judge, William Nardini, called an “exceptionally difficult case.”

Combs is also appealing his conviction though that was not discussed in detail on Thursday.

He is being held in the low-security Fort Dix prison in New Jersey and is due for release in spring 2028.

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