Diddy wants a judge to grant him an acquittal or, at the very least, a new trial, and he is blaming the government’s definition of prostitution.
The Bad Boy Records founder is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty on two counts of transportation for prostitution. In July, Diddy came out on top in his Rico case after a jury found him not guilty on sex trafficking and racketeering.
The problem for Diddy now is that he is still facing years in prison per count for the two guilty verdicts, and he is being held without bond pending his sentencing. The billionaire mogul’s legal team is arguing for an acquittal or a new trial, claiming that the government gave an improper definition of prostitution.
In new legal documents, the entertainment mogul’s attorneys argued that the so-called freak off videos can be classified as amateur porn because they were filmed with the consent of the participants. The legal docs also claimed that participants were paid for participating in the acts. Defense attorneys stated in their court filing that Diddy is an amateur pornographer.
Diddy’s quest for a new trial
“If there was any settled ordinary meaning of ‘prostitute’ in 1910, it was a woman who has indiscriminate sex with men, whether paid or not,” lawyers said in their court filing. “That was the common law meaning and the federal meaning under Bitty and Caminetti. If this court were to apply that meaning, the statute would plainly be unconstitutional—which the government does not dispute.”
The attorneys say there is no evidence to suggest that the rap mogul intended to pay participants for sex acts “during or before travel.” Whether or not the judge will buy the argument remains unknown.
In the meantime, Diddy’s sentencing date is set for October 3, approximately a month from now. The judge denied him bail twice since the verdict arrived in court, citing his history of domestic violence and possible flight risk.
If all else fails, Diddy and his legal team are hoping for a pardon from President Donald Trump. His defense team has indicated that they’ve made contact with the White House about a possible pardon, and Trump has spoken about weighing the option in previous interviews.