P. Diddy Makes Urgent Demand to be Released Immediately

Shawn Diddy Combmes has just filed a. brand new bid to get out of jail before. his sentencing in a few months. From. arguing he shouldn't be locked up for. his swinger lifestyle to highlighting. the atrocious conditions at the MDC to. addressing allegations of violence he is. fighting for his life in this new letter. to the judge. Could it work? Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Will Shawn Diddy Combmes be released. from jail? I know I've asked that.

question before so many different times. here on Sidebar, but we have right now a. brand new request from his legal team. A. brand new filing from his defense team. arguing for why he should be released. now after that monumental verdict in his. criminal case several weeks ago. Circumstances have changed. And I will. tell you what, we did an interview a few. weeks back that kind of previewed why. and how Combmes could be released. It. was a bail bondsman that is apparently.

working with Diddy's team behind the. scenes. I'm going to get to that a. little bit later. But what I want to. talk about right now is this latest. letter from the defense to the judge. overseeing this case. Judge Arun. Subermanian. Remember this comes after a. jury of Comb's peers found him not. guilty of rakateeering conspiracy, not. guilty of two counts of sex trafficking, but they did convict him of two counts. of transportation to engage in. prostitution. He's set to be sentenced. on October 3rd. Technically, he could. face up to 10 years in prison on each. charge. Highly unlikely. I think maybe.

you might be looking at somewhere to two. to 5 years potentially, but he could. also get time served and be released, although that also seems unlikely. I'll. talk about that a little bit later, too. But initially after the verdict, right. after the verdict, his defense team. petitioned the court that he should be. released. He was just acquitted of some. very serious charges. The judge denied. it. The judge denied Col's bail once. again. And remember, this comes after he. was rejected bail multiple times since. he was arrested back in September of. 2024, highlighting the severity of the.

charges, the violence, and so forth. But. now, this is different. Now, what is the. defense arguing? I'm going to go over. all this in the new letter. I'm going to. give my take at the end about whether or. not it's going to be successful and. whether or not he will actually be. released before sentencing in October. So, the defense begins by arguing that. Shawn Combmes should be released in. advance of sentencing and the court has. the power to do this. They have the. authority among other things because you. can clearly show quote that there are.

exceptional reasons why such person's. detention would not be appropriate. So, what are those exceptions? What are. those reasons? What are those. circumstances that are exceptional? They. highlight several things that we're. going to get into that the charges he. was convicted of, we're going to call. them the man act violations. That's what. it's called under the law. They're not. as severe. They're not as egregious as. other convictions in other cases. that. the sheer fact that he's locked up at. the MDC, the Metropolitan Detention.

Center for the past 11 months, that in. and of itself is a reason for him to be. released. These are all exceptional. circumstances, and I'm going to get into. all the arguments. But first, they. highlight the standard, and they argue. that to be released under federal law, you need to show two conditions. First, the district court must find by clear. and convincing evidence that the person. is not likely to flee or pose a danger. to the safety of any other person or the. community if released. Second, it must. be clearly shown that there are. exceptional reasons why such person's.

detention would not be appropriate. Now, clear and convincing evidence is a lower. standard, by the way. It's not like. beyond a reasonable doubt. Anyway, basically, you have to show he's not a. flight risk. He's not a danger. and you. have to show there are particular. exceptional unique reasons for why. detaining Combmes is wrong. We're going. to start with the exceptional reasons. justifying his release. And they begin. by trying to define, well, what exactly. is exceptional circumstances? What does. that mean? And they argue that case law. suggests a court has a lot of discretion.

to determine whether a particular set of. circumstances qualifies as exceptions. And they say, 'Look, Shawn Combmes, his. case so different from other ones. There. has never been, according to them, a man. act prosecution like this one before. And this is how they lay it out. Quote, "There has literally never been a case. like this one, where a person and his. girlfriend arranged for adult men to. have consensual sexual relations with. the adult long-term girlfriend as part. of a demonstrated swinger's lifestyle.

and has been prosecuted and incarcerated. under the man act. Combmes and two of. his longtime girlfriends had a private. intimate life that is not uncommon. today. They're talking about Jane and. Cassie Ventura. Quote, "It may not have. been common on June 25th, 1910 when the. man Act, or as it was originally called, the White Slave Traffic Act was passed, but attitudes about sex and morality. have come a long way in the last 115. years. It is worth noting that when the. man act was passed to protect the morals.

and decency of America's women, America's women were not allowed to. vote. As noted below, perhaps due to the. troubling background of this statute, whose history is rich with both racism. and misogyny, the Department of Justice. has limited its application to those. people profiting financially from the. business of prostitution and not using. it to prosecute consensual adults for. their own lifestyles. By the way, we. covered this on a previous sidebar. The. defense made an argument months ago to.

have these charges thrown out. Called it. basically racially motivated that it was. strange that it was being used against a. successful black man. That argument. didn't work. He was ultimately. prosecuted and he was convicted on those. charges. Hey everybody, real quick. This. is another law and crime legal alert. Did you know that children are being. diagnosed with serious conditions like. type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty. liver disease? And the research is. potentially linking ultrarocessed foods. to all this. Yeah. Well, Morgan and. Morgan is stepping in to fight to hold.

these food companies accountable. With. decades of experience fighting large. corporations, they are ready to stand up. for the families who deserve justice. So, if your child under 21 has been. diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or fatty. liver disease, then visit. www.forthepeople.com/food. or scan the QR code on screen to learn. more. They continue. Cassie Ventura and Shawn. Combmes went to swingers clubs and they. had threesomes. Miss Ventura. consistently expressed interest and. enthusiasm in her intimate life with.

Combmes, including what they called. freakoffs. Jane and Shawn Combmes had. threesomes, too. When Jane and Combmes. watched pornography together, Jane. testified that she contacted two. different porn stars and invited them to. join her and Mr. Combmes. Both Miss. Ventura and Jane testified that very. often they would see the same men over. and over again for years. In July of. 2024, Jane testified, for instance, that. she suggested to Mr. Combmes that they. call Paul. Jane explained that she told. Combmes she quote missed Paul. When.

asked why she said that, she responded, "Because I did." This was a lifestyle, one that both Miss Ventura and Jane. chose, one they all, as grown adults, had a right to choose. Like many aspects. of sex and intimacy, it was not without. its complications, its spouts of. jealousy, and at times its frustrations. But that is a hallmark of any serious. romantic relationship. And that is what. these were. Serious long-term romantic. relationships. By the way, not. surprising they're really focusing on.

this because again, he was acquitted of. sex trafficking. They highlight how the. jury didn't find sex trafficking of Jane. or Cassie that it didn't occur. There. was no force, fraud, or coercion that. was used to induce these women to engage. in commercial sex acts for. transportation to engage in. prostitution. What he was convicted of, the prosecution didn't have to prove. that violence was used or that fraud was. used or threats were used. It was just. did you transport these women and men.

for the purposes of sex work, commercial. sex acts. And obviously the jury convict. them of that. And they highlight all the. jury found was that there was. prostitution, payment of porn and stars. and escorts. And they highlight that he. is a swinger or under the man act a. John. And they argue he doesn't deserve. to be locked up for this. Quote, "Sean. Combmes should not be in jail for this. conduct. In fact, he may be the only. person currently in a United States jail. for being any sort of John and certainly. the only person in jail for hiring adult.

male escorts for him and his girlfriend. when he did not even have sex with the. escort himself. Over the last 75 years, the White Slave Traffic Act has been. limited to defendants who cause. interstate travel for financial gain. through the business of prostitution. that Shawn Combmes remains in jail for. being convicted of being a customer of. consensual adult sex services makes this. case truly exceptional. Not only is. prosecuting the users of adult. prostitution services inconsistent with.

the MAN Act, it's inconsistent with the. prosecution policies of the district. attorneys of Manhattan and the city. attorney of Los Angeles, California, two. of the three locations where this. prostitution allegedly took place. In. addition, Mr. Combmes is incarcerated. while everyone else involved in this. identical conduct, his girlfriends, the. cowboys, the agency leaders, the porn. stars, and others walk free, as they. should. If there was ever a fact pattern. that was exceptional under the man act,

it is this one. And then they move on to. another argument that the Department of. Justice, the DOJ, has usually only. charged man Act violations when there's. financial gain. And they even cite a. number of cases in the southern district. of New York where Combmes was prosecuted. that apparently involve defendants that. set up a prostitution business for. profit. Again, trying to distinguish. between Comb's conduct and these cases. He never did any of this for profit,

they argued. And they even cite the 1953. US attorneys manual that says quote as a. general rule prosecution should not be. instituted in the so-called. non-commercial cases. And they claim the. Department of Justice manual today quote. makes clear that the prosecution of. customers involved in an 18USC 2421. offense like Mr. Holmes here is now. limited to prosecuting those who engage. in commercial sex with victims of sex. trafficking in addition to those who.

otherwise perpetrate or facilitate human. trafficking offenses. And in the absence. of any sex trafficking charge, however, it is clear that the standalone manac. counts never would have been prosecuted. That seems true. I think you ask any. legal expert, they will say if all the. government had against Shawn Combmes was. the transportation to engage in. prostitution charges, just the. prostitution charges, they probably. wouldn't have gone after him. They. coupled it with racketeering and they.

coupled it with sex trafficking. I agree. with that. I don't think that they would. have gone after him just for that. Anyway, the defense highlights how. modern-day prosecutions of John's is. really when you're talking about. exploiting vulnerable foreigners who. don't speak English well, which again is. not the case here. And they highlight. how the only potentially comparable case. in New York is where you had a retired. police officer and a former judge who. apparently hired women to have sex with.

a male fraternal group called the. Jesters. But Comb's attorneys say while. there was no profit there, there's no. profit here, there was sex trafficking. of those prostitutes. That's what's. different. Again, Combmes was acquitted. of sex trafficking in this case. And. here's the main point. Quote, "Moreover, the cases which involve defendants. similarly situated to Mr. Combmes have. been released on bond pending. sentencing. In reviewing the cases. across the country where the primary or.

sole conviction was for a violation of. 18USC 2421, the defendants who were not. charged with running a prostitution. business have been released pending. sentencing. And then Comb's attorneys. make another argument for why Comb's. conditions are exceptional. And it's. about him being locked up at the MDC. They say that a district court judge in. the southern district in another case. basically said how bad the MDC is. As. Judge Ferman noted, the state of affairs.

at MDC is unacceptable. In so noting, Judge Ferman concluded that the. conditions in the MDC qualify as. exceptional reasons under the statute. justifying, and this was the defendant. in this case, Chavez's continuing. release. Judge Ferman found that the. conditions at the MDC are quote dreadful. in many respects, but three warrant. particular emphasis. One, continued. reports of inordinant periods of. lockdown. Two, claims that the facility.

provides inadequate and or substantially. delayed necessary medical care, a. particular risk in this case, and three, general issues about the conditions at. the facility. These conditions have not. abaded in Mr. Comb's detention at the. facility. As the court is aware, during. Mr. Comb's incarceration at the MDC, the. facility was subject to an inter agency. suite that was designed to achieve our. shared goal of maintaining a safe. environment for both our employees and.

the incarcerated individuals housed at. MDC Brooklyn. They're actually quoting. what the rationale was. In other words, there is a significant issue at the MDC. related to the safety of employees and. incarcerated individuals that require. outside law enforcement action from. multiple agencies to address. Importantly, MDC as a jail has a. significant law enforcement presence. within its walls 24 hours per day that. are equipped with investigatory and. often unregulated authority. Thus, the. requirement of outside law enforcement.

agencies to ensure safety within the MDC. is an admission that serious violence, mayhem, and chaos is occurring within. the MDC that requires more than a. band-aid raid, but rather surgery. Indeed, we are aware of ongoing threats. of violence and actual violence in the. facility such that Mr. Comb's safety is. constantly at risk. And they go on to. argue, though Mr. Combmes has been a. model inmate for his nearly year-long. period of confinement. The violent. conditions are still very much a concern.

for Mr. Combmes and is an unnecessary. confinement risk given the clear. precedent of multiple similarly situated. manac convictions where defendants were. released on conditions. Now, the. government, by the way, would probably. disagree with that statement of him. being a model inmate. Remember when they. accused Combmes of trying to arrange. three-way phone calls and buying the use. of other inmates phone privileges to try. to make sure the government wasn't. listening in, that he was having these. private conversations, that he was. allegedly trying to contact witnesses in. the case, that he allegedly orchestrated.

a birthday campaign to help his public. image while he was locked up. So, if we. hear a government response, I'm sure. they're going to say something about. that. Then the defense highlights he's. not a risk of flight. He's not a danger. to the community, which by the way, I. think are real key points here, but they. seem to echo a lot of the same arguments. that they have already stated to the. court. And remember, they haven't been. successful in the past. that he. voluntarily came to New York last year. to surrender himself to authorities, that he gave up his passport to his.

attorneys six months before his arrest, paid off his mortgage on his Miami home, so it was free and clear for him to stay. at while out on bond. He was just. acquitted of the most serious charges. that he was facing, which by the way. carried decades, if not life in prison, that he's not a risk of flight. That's. the basic argument. Now, when it comes. to the danger argument, that is key. Why? Judge Sub Romanian had said after. the verdict that the reason he was. denying bail was because of Comb's. violence, that his own attorneys. admitted he was violent during the.

course of the trial. Well, here is what. Comb's defense attorneys argue about. that. Quote, "The court noted that the. defense admitted a history of domestic. violence as to Miss Ventura and that he. struck Jane twice in June 2024. However, we strenuously object that Mr. Combmes. poses a danger to the community. Aside. from a single instance on June 18th, 2024, where Mr. Combmes was provoked by. Jane through her own acts of violence, there was no evidence of any acts of. violence in the last 7 years. Indeed,

the jury notably rejected the. government's argument that the June 2024. incident constituted coercion when it. acquitted Mr. Combmes of the sex. trafficking charge. Also, prior to his. arrest in this case, Mr. Combmes. enrolled in a domestic violence program. in which he participated until he was. arrested and incarcerated in connection. with this case. If released on. conditions, Shawn Combmes will not be. violent to anyone. As we said in court, this jury gave him his life back, and he. will not squander his second chance at.

life, nor would he do anything to. further jeopardize his seven children. not having a father and four of his. children not having a parent at all. The. court can fashion any set of conditions, and Mr. Combmes will abide by any. condition to make the court comfortable. that Mr. Combmes will not be violent. toward any person. And that is when they. propose the following bail package. That. Commes will sign a $50 million bond. secured by his home in Miami. That the. bond will be co-signed by three. financially responsible people. That.

Commes will reside in his home in Miami. that his travel will be limited to the. Southern District of Florida, the. Southern District of New York for. attorney meetings, as well as airports. that are necessary to travel between the. two. That he will be placed under the. express supervision of the US pre-trial. services agency, that he will report to. that agency as directed, that his. passport will be surrendered to. pre-trial services, that he shall not. apply for any other passport. And they. even highlight that the court can add. other conditions, too. home detention,

private security approved by the court, mental health treatment, he'll agree to. it all. Now, let me tell you, we kind of. previewed that this all would happen, this argument would happen, this new. bail package would be presented when we. spoke a few weeks ago to renowned bail. bondsman to the celebrities, by the way, to the stars, Ira Jettson, who. apparently had been working with Comb's. team behind the scenes on working to. secure his release. Here's what he said.

about a new package after the verdict. >> When Mark reached out to me afterwards, we started thinking about putting. another bail package together. >> And what is that bail package that's And. by the way, is this a bail package that. you think could be submitted again even. after the judge just denied bail? Well, the judge denied bail based on the. statute and the statute stated a certain. amount of information that part of the. man act that, you know, uh was not. eligible for bail. There are certain. circumstances that can be done. Um we're.

going to regroup again. Um I know that. they were going to go talk to, you know, to uh Mr. Combmes again and see what. happens there. Um they have the October. 3rd date. Um and you know, I don't know. where he stood. as of the other day, he. wanted to get out. You know, I don't. think anybody wants to be at MDC where. he is. Um, so, you know, we're going to. reconvene and see what happens, you. know, at a later date. We could go back. with another package. >> Okay. So, with all that in mind, and. again, at the time of this recording, I.

don't see the government's response to. this, but here's my take. Now, Combmes. is obviously in a better position to. argue for release now than he was in the. past. I thought that after his acquitt, this change in circumstances, that he. could be released. The man act. convictions alone, given the facts. presented in court, I think the defense. made a compelling argument that he. should be released. Not facing as. serious charges that would have.

justified, you know, a concern of a risk. of flight. He's no longer charged with. the violence of racketeering and sex. trafficking. But remember, the judge was. very persuaded by the violence aspect. that was a part of this case. The judge. has latitude, discretion here when it. comes to bail and bail conditions. And. he received letters immediately after. the verdict opposing bail. And I think a. lot of the defense's arguments are. compelling, particularly citing case law. about other people who were released.

But the judge could be persuaded that. these were multiple violations of the. man act with respect to both Jane and. Cassie. These weren't isolated. incidents. Multiple men, multiple. payments, multiple dates, multiple. transportation, the violence, the drugs, those factors in the case may not. necessarily have to be separated from. the bail analysis despite the fact that. they weren't really required elements of. the charges that he was convicted of. And you can make the argument, sure, he. was acquitted of sex trafficking of Jane.

and Cassie. The jury might say he didn't. use force for fraud or coercion to. induce them into commercial sex acts, but violence still may have occurred. The judge might be persuaded by that. And I don't think at this point, my. personal opinion, I don't see the judge. changing his tune. I don't see him being. persuaded by these arguments. But look, for Shawn Combmes, obviously he wants. some sort of release from jail before. sentencing because while the judge could. technically sentence him to time served.

or 20 years, both seem highly unlikely, it seems that he would be sentenced to. some additional time in prison. And. obviously Shawn Combmes wants some time. out of prison, sometime out of detention. before he's ultimately sentenced. Now, we'll see what the judge does. I could. be wrong. We'll wait and see. It's all. we have for you right now here on. Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much. for joining us and as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you. next time.

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