Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs likely only to be sentenced to months not 20 years in prostitution convictions following trial verdict which saw him avoid the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking according to legal scholars.
Rap mogul, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is likely to serve mere months jail time according to some legal experts following a Wednesday morning verdict which saw the rapper found guilty on two lesser prostitution charges and dodging being found guilty of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
Combs, 55, will probably get a much lighter sentence than the 20 years maximum he faces for his two prostitution charge convictions stemming from shipping escorts across state lines, according to former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner.
The music entrepreneur had faced life in prison if convicted on the most serious counts.
Diddy argues that Cassie Ventura was a willing participant in sex…
‘The convictions for interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution likely will lead to a sentence that will be measured in months, not years,’ Epner told the nypost. ‘The starting point under the US Sentencing Guidelines will be a sentencing range of 15 to 21 months.’
That sentencing range will be argued by lawyers on both sides and so could end up being a different figure than that starting point.
Combs, however, has already been in jail for nearly 10 months since his Sept. 16 arrest — meaning he may have already served most of his time when he’s sentenced, possibly a few months from now.
Judge Arun Subramanian may also grant Combs’ request to be released on bail, Epner told the nypost.
‘I think that the court may grant it, given that Sean Combs has been held in MDC — one of the worst prisons in America — and likely would serve any additional sentence at a low-security prison or possibly even a barracks-style camp,’ the lawyer said.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and legal commentator, agreed that Combs isn’t likely to do much time.
‘He is likely going to get little to no time,’ he told People magazine.
‘He may even get time served and prostitution has a 10 year maximum. But the fact that he was acquitted of the most serious counts, the government would not have brought this case had they thought they could only get prostitution,’ Rahmani said.
‘[This was] a huge overwhelming win by the defense and a tremendous loss for the prosecution,’ said Rahmani. ‘There is no other way to spin it. This is the most expensive prostitution trial in American history.’
In the aftermath of the trial and Diddy verdict, the case has led to wide debate on the prosecutor’s case against the rapper, whether in fact he was being pursued beyond domestic abuse charges against his on and off girlfriend and principal victim, Cassie Ventura as a result of his swinger and amoral lifestyle and to what degree Ventura herself had been a willing participant and whether she had in fact been coerced to participate while living a life of luxury, wealth and advantage and when in fact sexual fantasy becomes a crime?
