October 3, 2025: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentencing

A defense attorney for Sean “Diddy” Combs slammed the judge’s sentence of his client of 50 months in prison as “un-American” in comments after the hearing today.

Brian Steel told CNN he thinks the sentence “sends the wrong message” and argued Combs was sentenced for conduct the jury did not find him guilty of.

“People get — god forbid — falsely accused of a crime, they go to trial, they have all the witnesses testify, credibility is determined, the jury reaches a verdict, and finds in their favor — and then they get sentenced for the same exact conduct that the jury found that they did not commit,” Steel said. “It seems un-American.”

Steel told CNN’s Kara Scannell that since Combs was not convicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, the judge should not have considered those elements in his sentence.

“There is no such corresponding element in the Mann Act,” he said. “This was a very hard sentence.”

Asked if he thought the judge was wrong, Steel said, “We’ll find out on appeal.”

The defense attorney said he talked to Combs after the sentencing but declined to give more details about their conversation or how his client was feeling. “Two years is an eternity in custody,” Steel said.

Marc Agnifilo, another one of Comb’s defense attorneys, said outside the courthouse that the legal team feels they have “strong basis to appeal.”