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Sean “Diddy” Combs and his legal team haven’t let one day go by without fighting what they have proclaimed as a miscarriage of justice. Now, the Bad Boy mogul is officially appealing his conviction and 50-month prison sentence following his federal sex-crimes trial.
Court filings reveal that Combs’ legal team filed a notice of appeal in the Southern District of New York on Oct. 20—roughly two weeks after his sentencing and about three months after the verdict came down. The full details of the appeal haven’t been released yet, but his team plans to submit their arguments to the court soon.
Back in July, a 12-person jury delivered a split verdict that cleared Diddy of the most serious charges—racketeering and sex trafficking—but found him guilty on two counts of transporting individuals to engage in prostitution. Each charge carried a possible 10-year sentence, but earlier this month, the 55-year-old was hit with just over four years behind bars and a $500,000 fine.
For Diddy, that outcome was seen as the least bad of his options, since a racketeering conviction could’ve meant life in prison. Still, his lawyers aren’t satisfied. They argue that the judge factored in charges Diddy was acquitted of when deciding his sentence—a move they call “legal error.”
“Both the guidelines calculation and the sentence took account of conduct for which Mr. Combs was acquitted by a jury,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told The New York Post after the October 3 sentencing. “We contend this amounts to legal error.”
Agnifilo also said at the time that Diddy’s team planned to appeal immediately, claiming Judge Arun Subramanian leaned on claims of coercion to justify the 50-month sentence.
Now, with the appeal officially in motion, all eyes are back on how the next chapter in Diddy’s legal saga plays out—and whether the hip-hop icon can pull off a rare comeback from one of the biggest legal battles in music history.
