New York [US], July 9 : Sean 'Diddy' Combs will be sentenced on October 3 in New York after being found guilty of two counts of interstate prostitution, reported Billboard.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, July 8, by Judge Arun Subramanian.
According to Billboard, the 55-year-old rapper was convicted on July 2 for transporting girlfriends and male escorts across state lines for "freak-offs." However, the jury did not find enough evidence to convict him on more serious charges like sex trafficking and racketeering. This means Combs avoided a minimum 15-year sentence or a possible life term. Instead, he now faces "between zero and 20" years in prison. But under federal guidelines, his sentence is likely to fall between two and five years. This means the judge has the discretion to award as little or as much prison time as he sees fit, as long as it's below the 20-year cap.
The U.S. Probation Office will now interview Combs and provide a sentencing recommendation by September 18. After that, both the prosecution and defence will share their views in writing on what the sentence should be.
Combs has already spent more than a year in jail since his arrest, and that time will likely be deducted from any sentence he receives.
Following his partial acquittal last week, Combs also sought release on bail; however, his request was denied by Judge Subramanian. The judge pointed to Combs' own past admissions of domestic violence and said he believes the rapper could be a danger to the public, according to Billboard.
Combs' legal team now has until July 30 to file post-trial motions. This could include an effort to overturn the conviction, which they have argued was influenced by race.
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