Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sentencing set for Oct. 3 after split verdict in
federal sex crimes case
[July 09, 2025]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs will be sentenced in his federal
criminal case on Oct. 3, a judge said Tuesday after probation officials
rejected the defense and prosecution’s plan to move the date up by about
two weeks.
Combs, who remains jailed after a split verdict last week, spoke briefly
to his lawyer Marc Agnifilo during a virtual hearing on the scheduling
issue that lasted all of two minutes. At one point he asked the lawyer
to turn on his camera so they could see each other’s faces.
The hip-hop mogul’s lawyers had been urging Judge Arun Subramanian to
sentence him as soon as possible after jurors acquitted him last week on
racketeering and sex trafficking but convicted him on two
prostitution-related charges.
Combs, 55, faces up to a decade in prison for each of two counts of
transportation to engage in prostitution for flying people around the
country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, for sexual
encounters. A conviction on racketeering conspiracy or sex trafficking
could have put him in prison for life.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Combs’ lawyers and prosecutors filed a joint
letter proposing a Sept. 22 sentencing date, subject to the consent of
the U.S. Probation Office. A short time later, they filed a second
letter stating that all parties — including the probation office — were
on board with the Oct. 3 date Subramanian originally proposed.
Combs got a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to
jail after the verdict last week, Agnifilo said. The Bad Boy Records
founder will remain at the federal lockup in Brooklyn where he's been
held since his arrest last September after Subramanian last week
rejected his request for bail.
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Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the BET Awards at the Microsoft
Theater in Los Angeles, on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
File)
 The judge, citing a now-infamous
video of Combs beating a former girlfriend and photographs showing
injuries to another ex-girlfriend, made clear that he plans to hold
Combs accountable for the years of violence and bullying behavior
that were exposed at his eight-week trial.
Combs’ lawyers want less than the 21 to 27 months in prison that
they believe the sentencing guidelines recommend. Prosecutors
contend that the guidelines, when properly calculated to include
Combs’ crimes and violent history, call for at least four to five
years in prison.
Combs’ punishment is Subramanian’s decision alone, and the judge
will have wide latitude in determining a sentence. While judges
often adhere to the federal judiciary’s formulaic guidelines meant
to prevent disparity in sentences for the same crimes, they are not
mandatory.
As part of the sentencing process, Combs must give an interview to
probation officers for a pre-sentence investigation report that will
aid the judge in determining the proper punishment.
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