Sean “Diddy” Combs is once again asking to be released from federal custody ahead of his Oct. 3 sentencing — this time arguing that his nearly yearlong incarceration is unjust, the law was misapplied, and the judge should set aside earlier concerns about his past violent behavior.
The motion, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, comes after Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs’ prior requests for bail following the jury’s split verdict. While Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and a host of other charges, he was convicted of violating the Mann Act, a law that is rarely used.
“The Mann Act (also known as the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910),” according to Cornell Law School, “is a federal law that criminalizes the transportation of ‘any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.’
The judge had previously cited Combs’ own admissions of violence, particularly in his relationship with Cassie Ventura, and an alleged 2024 assault against another woman known as “Jane,” as key reasons for continued detention.
Now, Combs’ attorneys argue that keeping him behind bars amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate application of a 114-year-old law originally designed to combat human trafficking and forced prostitution. They say Combs is being punished not for coercion or profiteering but for engaging in consensual sexual activity within a swinger’s lifestyle.
“There has literally never been a case like this one,” the motion states, arguing that Combs is the only person in jail for paying adult male escorts to engage with his long-term girlfriends — activity the defense claims was consensual and initiated by the women themselves.
The legal team also points to Combs’ 11-month detention at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, calling it a dangerous and violent environment that federal courts have already condemned as unfit. They argue the facility’s conditions alone justify his release.
“The requirement of outside law enforcement agencies to ensure safety within the MDC is an admission that serious violence, mayhem and chaos is occurring,” the motion says.
Combs is offering a $50 million bond secured by his Miami home, travel restrictions, electronic monitoring, and any conditions the court may impose to prove he is neither a danger nor a flight risk.
“This jury gave him his life back, and he will not squander his second chance at life,” his attorneys wrote.
