Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team is pushing back after the music mogul was sentenced to over four years in prison on October 3. Following the sentencing, Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, accused Judge Arun Subramanian of overstepping his role and second-guessing the jury’s verdict, according to People magazine.
“The judge acted as a 13th juror, one we did not choose,” Agnifilo told reporters after the hearing. “He second-guessed the jury’s verdict.” The defense had argued that the sentence should not exceed 14 months, especially since the jury had acquitted Combs of racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
Instead, the jury convicted the founder of Bad Boy Records on prostitution-related offenses. “The jury’s verdict was resoundingly clear,” Agnifilo continued. “There was no sex trafficking, there was no racketeering, everything was consensual, everything was adult.”
Although Combs will receive credit for the year he has already served, leaving him with about 36 months left to serve, Agnifilo has made it clear that an appeal is forthcoming. The attorney further criticized the judge’s emphasis on “coercion” in his sentencing decision, which he believes was an unfair factor in determining the length of the sentence.
In a notable shift, Agnifilo’s comments sharply contrasted with the earlier praise he had given Judge Subramanian. Just two months prior, Agnifilo had described Subramanian as “fair” and “remarkably hard-working” in an interview with Vogue. He had commended the judge for giving both sides “as fair a trial as possible.”
The legal team’s appeal is likely to prolong the case, as they seek to reduce Diddy’s sentence based on the argument that the judge’s decision exceeded the scope of the jury’s findings. Despite the defense’s pushback, the ruling stands for now, and the music mogul will serve the remainder of his sentence as the legal process unfolds.