Last July, Diddy was convicted of two counts of transporting individuals across state lines to engage in prostitution in violation of the Mann Act. According to his legal team, however, the Mann Act doesn't apply to his case.
The Bad Boy founder is set to appear in court today to appeal his federal prison sentence. He's seeking immediate release. His attorneys will argue that the recordings of sexual encounters involving partners or sex workers, otherwise known as "freak-offs," are amateur pornography. This would mean they are protected under the First Amendment.
"Freak-offs and hotel nights were highly choreographed sexual performances involving the use of costumes, role play, and staged lighting which were filmed so Combs and his girlfriends could watch this amateur pornography later," they claim, per TMZ. "Pornography production and viewing of this sort is protected by the First Amendment and thus cannot constitutionally be prosecuted."
Diddy Prison Release Date
Diddy's legal team believes his sentence doesn't align with sentencing guidelines. They claim that a typical sentence would be about 15 months, but he's spent 19 months behind bars.
Prosecutors continue to push back. They argue that the judge did the right thing by taking into account the way he treated his alleged victims. “According to Combs, the district court should have closed its eyes to how he carried out his Mann Act offenses and abused his victims — violently beating them, threatening them, lying to them and plying them with drugs," they wrote in their appellate brief.
At the time of writing, Diddy is expected to get out of prison on April 15, 2028. Once he gets out, he'll face a mandatory five-year period of supervised release. He's serving his time at The Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix, a low-security institution in New Jersey.
