Sean “Diddy” Combs scored a victory in the disgraced music mogul’s federal sex crimes case.
Diddy’s demand for an expedited appeal was granted Monday, paving the way for possible oral arguments to take place in April 2026. The move is an “important first step” toward freedom for the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper while he possibly eyes a pardon from President Donald Trump, legal experts told Fox News Digital.
“The expedited appeal is a procedural win for Diddy,” Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Fox News Digital. “The Government didn’t oppose the request, which made it easier, but the Court of Appeal apparently agreed that the appeal would be moot if it went through the normal 12 to 18 month process, at least with respect to the sentence. There’s a chance that Diddy will be allowed to serve the end of his sentence in a halfway house or home confinement under the RDAP program after the appeal would normally have been decided.”
“The sentencing argument that the judge shouldn’t have considered acquitted conduct is the best argument on appeal,” the former federal prosecutor added. “It will be more difficult for Diddy to argue that the conviction should be reversed entirely because he didn’t participate in the sex acts, or they were pornography. Even though it’s just a win on procedure and not the merits, it’s an important first step for Diddy while he continues to lobby President Trump to commute his sentence.”
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Diddy was moved to Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix on Oct. 30 after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in July.
The musician was sentenced to 50 months behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. Diddy is scheduled to be released from prison on May 8, 2028, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
R. Kelly’s lawyer, Nicole Blank Becker, told Fox News Digital a pardon from Trump is “certainly not out of the realm” as the president has pardoned other celebrities in the past.
“I think that if there’s a bigger explanation of why the things happened that P. Diddy is accused of doing and the president and or his people are made aware of all of that, that would certainly assist in having the right people look at the right things.”
Diddy would also have to show remorse, according to the criminal defense lawyer.
“They’re not trying to pardon people who are going to go out there and just tear up … the federal government and everything like that,” Becker explained.
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Diddy also has to have the “right people” who can make a “proper request” for the rapper’s presidential pardon, according to R. Kelly’s lawyer.
“And trust me, those people are not talking to the media and those people aren’t letting people know that that’s what they’re doing. This is something that is very rarely given, but often asked for, but not in the manner in which it’s being portrayed in the media.”
On Oct. 6, President Trump told reporters that Diddy had requested a pardon.
“A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I call him Puff Daddy; he has asked me for a pardon.”
Trump first spoke about a potential pardon for Diddy during his trial. “I haven’t seen him,” Trump told Fox News’ Peter Doocy on May 30. “I haven’t spoken to him for years… I don’t know. I would certainly look at the facts. If I think someone was mistreated, it wouldn’t matter whether they like me or don’t.”
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Diddy’s eight-week trial — during which jurors heard dozens of witness testimonies — concluded on July 2. The rapper was acquitted on the most serious charges against him — sex-trafficking and racketeering. After his sentencing, Diddy apologized in court to both of his ex-girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and “Jane.”
The rapper’s recent court win is a “procedural lifeline” as he fights for his freedom.
“I would say that the fact that they were able to get an appeal expedited is frankly, it’s like a procedural lifeline,” Becker said. “It really is. We don’t usually get those types of lifelines. The expedition of an appeal? Yeah, good luck.”
Becker pointed to the fact that Diddy’s case was extremely “high stakes” and “top level.”
“If they go through the whole process, and they have legitimate arguments to make, and they actually win — they could not win until after he’s already out, which really is no win at all,” she explained.
