Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has been serving a 50-month prison sentence for prostitution-related charges handed down last October, is set to appear in court on Thursday to appeal his conviction. Combs’ attorneys are requesting his immediate release from prison, claiming that the judge imposed an overly harsh sentence.
The music mogul has been serving his prison sentence at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution, a low-security facility in New Jersey. Combs’ release date has fluctuated in recent months. It was recently moved from April 25 to April 15, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. He was originally scheduled for release in June, then May, of that year.
At the high-profile trial of the music mogul last summer, federal prosecutors accused Combs of leading a criminal enterprise that “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” according to the indictment. Combs pleaded not guilty and denied all of the allegations against him.
Last July, a jury found Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution related to his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura and a victim who testified under the pseudonym “Jane.” The jury also acquitted Combs of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking that could have seen him sentenced to life in prison.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says sorry to his family during his sentencing hearing after being convicted of transporting prostitutes for drug-fueled sexual performances, in New York City on October 3, 2025.
(Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)
Combs faced a maximum of 20 years in prison for the two prostitution-related charges. Federal prosecutors asked for a sentence of more than 11 years in prison and to impose the maximum fine of $500,000. The defense sought a sentence of no more than 14 months in prison.
Last October, in a Manhattan federal court, Judge Arun Subramanian ultimately handed down a sentence of 50 months — four years and two months — in prison. Subramanian also imposed a $500,000 fine and ordered five years of supervised release upon Combs’s release from prison.
The judge told the court at the time that a substantial sentence was needed “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
Subramanian said at the sentencing that he “rejects the defense’s attempt to characterize what happened here as merely intimate, consensual experiences, or just a sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll story.”
The judge told Combs directly, “You abused the power and control that you had over the lives of women you professed to love dearly. You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. And you used that abuse to get your way, especially when it came to freak offs and hotel nights.”
In their appeal, Combs’ lawyers argue that Subramanian unjustly allowed evidence from the acquitted charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking to influence the punishment. Atlanta-based attorney Nicole Westmoreland, who was one of Combs’ trial attorneys, joined his appellate legal team just days before the April 9 hearing.
Thursday’s oral arguments will begin at 10 a.m. ET before a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan. The court could either uphold Combs’ conviction, order a new sentencing hearing, or completely overturn the case.
