Sean Combs made it official Monday, filing a two-page notice of appeal confirming that he’s challenging both his conviction on his two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and his 50-month prison sentence.
The form, which was obtained by Rolling Stone, lists Alexandra A.E. Shapiro as Combs’ appellate attorney and was submitted in Manhattan federal court after Shapiro vowed a court challenge on the day of Combs’ Oct. 3 sentencing. More in-depth filings spelling out Combs’ arguments for why his conviction and sentence should be overturned are expected to be submitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the coming weeks, where the case will go before a three-judge panel. (Attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)
Combs, 55, has been in custody since his arrest last year. The Bad Boy Records founder who spun his music, media, and beverage businesses into a billion-dollar fortune, was convicted on July 2 of two counts of violating the century-old Mann Act. Jurors acquitted Combs of his three most serious charges: racketeering conspiracy and the alleged sex trafficking of Ventura and Jane.
At Combs’ seven-week trial, his ex-girlfriends Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane told jurors that they often felt compelled to slather themselves in baby oil and have sex with male escorts while Combs choreographed their movements, masturbated, and often made videos. They said the extended sex marathons were dubbed “freak-offs” and hotel nights. Ventura testified that Combs regularly beat her, punched her, stomped on her face, threw her to the ground, and threatened to release her sex tapes if she didn’t do what he wanted.
Though Combs’ defense argued that his acquittals on the most serious charges precluded the court from considering the women’s claims of coercion, Judge Arun Subramanian said the women’s claims of violence and exploitation were major factors in the prison sentence of four years and two months. (Combs’ defense had asked for no more than 14 months.)
“The evidence of the abuse in connection with freak-offs and hotel nights is massive. I was sitting right here for the testimony from Ms. Ventura and from Jane. We read about it in text messages and e-mails. We saw it in the images of gashes, bruises, broken doors, and we saw the video of your savage beating of Ms. Ventura,” the judge said, addressing Combs directly. “This was subjugation, and it drove both Ms. Ventura and Jane to thoughts of ending their lives. That is the reality of what happened.”
Leading up to the sentencing, Ventura submitted a harrowing letter to the court asking for a substantial sentence. “Sean Combs used violence, threats, substances, and control over my career to trap me in over a decade of abuse. He groomed me into performing repeated sex acts with hired male sex workers during multi-day ‘freak offs,’ which occurred nearly weekly,” Ventura wrote in her victim impact statement. “I was forced into lingerie and heels, told exactly how to look, and plied with drugs and alcohol so he could control me like a puppet. These events were degrading and disgusting, leaving me with infections, illnesses, and days of physical and emotional exhaustion before he demanded it all again. Sex acts became my full-time job, used as the only way to stay in his good graces.”
Before he was sentenced, Combs also addressed the court, saying he was sorry. “I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused to her emotionally or physically,” he said after asking for a minute to compose himself, looking nervous. “I got lost in the excess. I got lost in my ego. … I’ve been humbled and broken to my core. I hate myself right now. I’ve been stripped down to nothing. I really am truly sorry for it all, no matter what they say.”
Turning to his six adult kids and his 84-year-old mother, Janice, an emotional Combs apologized again. “I failed as a father, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I failed you as a son. I’m sorry. You taught me better. You raised me better.”
