Judge Denies Diddy’s Latest Bail Bid

Sean “Diddy” Combs, shown in a file photo, will remain in custody until his Oct. 3 sentencing after a federal judge in New York denied his renewed request for bail on Monday. 

Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain behind bars after a federal judge in New York denied his latest bid for bail, rejecting defense arguments that he’s not a danger to the community and should be released ahead of his October sentencing.

The ruling came Monday from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who wrote that Combs “fails to satisfy his burden to demonstrate an entitlement to release” under the narrow exceptions to mandatory detention for his crimes of conviction. Combs, 55, was found guilty last month on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.

Subramanian pointed to evidence — already cited when he first denied bail after the verdict — of Combs’ admitted history of violence in personal relationships. “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus,” he wrote. The judge noted that, despite defense claims about unsafe conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, staff “has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs” even during a recent incident where another inmate threatened him.

The decision also addressed the competing narratives at the heart of Combs’ upcoming sentencing. “While Combs may contend … this evidence should be discounted and that what happened was nothing more than a case of willing ‘swingers’ utilizing the voluntary services of escorts for their mutual pleasure, the Government takes the opposite view: that Cassie Ventura and Jane were beaten, coerced, threatened, lied to, and victimized by Combs,” Subramanian wrote. That, he said, put the case “outside the narrow exception to detention that Congress otherwise deemed mandatory.”

The denial comes after Combs’ defense submitted a letter from Virginia “Gina” Huynh — identified in the case as Victim 3 — asking the court to release him. Huynh, a former girlfriend once subpoenaed to testify for the prosecution but who disappeared from the witness list before trial, told the court she does not view Combs as dangerous and believes “he has not been violent in many years.”

Prosecutors have argued the opposite, pointing to testimony and video evidence from other women, including Ventura, who described years of abuse. Letters from several accusers urged the court to keep Combs detained.

Each count of Combs’ conviction carries a potential maximum of 10 years, though prosecutors have indicated sentencing guidelines point to a prison term of roughly four to five years. He will receive 10 months’ credit for time served since his September 2024 arrest. Sentencing is set for Oct. 3 in Manhattan federal court.