A federal judge denied a motion to release Sean “Diddy” Combs on Monday, keeping the musician and hip-hop businessman jailed until his sentencing this fall.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian of the Southern District of New York found that Combs, convicted on two counts of interstate prostitution last month, “fails to satisfy his burden to demonstrate an entitlement to release.”
The judge’s decision came after Combs’ ex-girlfriend Virginia Huynh, who was set to testify in his federal trial but dropped out before the proceedings started, wrote a letter to the judge urging his release on bail.
Huynh was identified as “Victim-3” in the federal government’s sprawling indictment against Combs, 55, who was acquitted in early July of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges but convicted on two counts of interstate prostitution.
In the letter, Huynh — publicly identifying herself by name for the first time — wrote that she wanted to “share my observations about [Combs’] character and to respectfully request that the Court permit his release on bond while the case proceeds.”
“I believe it is important for the Court to have a full picture of who he is beyond the allegations,” Huynh said in the one-page letter, which Combs’ legal team filed Sunday.
Huynh wrote that her relationship with Combs was “not always perfect,” beset by “ups and downs” and “mistakes.” But in time, she wrote, he “made visible efforts to become a better person and to address the harm he had caused.”
By the end of their relationship, she added, “he embodied an energy of love, patience and gentleness that was markedly different from his past behavior.”
“To my knowledge,” Huynh told Subramanian, “he has not been violent for many years, and he has been committed to being a father first.”
She said that she does not view Combs as “a danger to me or to this community” and that his children “depend on him for emotional and financial support.”
“Allowing him to be at home will also support the healing process for all involved,” Huynh wrote in closing. “I respectfully ask that you consider these factors when deciding his eligibility for release.”
In a letter to Subramanian last month, prosecutors argued that Combs should not be given bail because he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
In denying Combs’ motion for bail Monday, Subramanian found that he failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments that he is a flight risk.
Subramanian also found that Combs’ argument that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is being held, did not warrant release. Combs argued that federal budget cuts this year made those conditions even worse.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” Subramanian wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
In the days before Combs’ trial started, U.S. prosecutors said they were struggling to get in touch with “Victim-3” and her attorney. She ultimately did not testify in the seven-week trial.
The jurors heard testimony from two of Combs’ other ex-girlfriends: R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman referred to by the pseudonym “Jane.” The prosecution called more than 30 other witnesses, including former assistants.
Ventura testified about the abuse she alleged she experienced during her 10-year on-and-off relationship with Combs. She accused him of physical and sexual assault, and jurors were shown hotel security video of Combs beating her in a hallway in 2016.
Combs, who pleaded not guilty, faced five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by fraud or coercion and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Subramanian also denied a bail request by Combs the day the jury’s verdict came in, saying it would be impossible for him to prove he does not pose a danger.
Combs is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 3. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
