Sean “Diddy” Combs is predicted to return to federal court docket on October 3 for sentencing following his conviction on two counts of interstate transportation for the aim of prostitution. Though acquitted of extra extreme expenses—together with intercourse trafficking and racketeering—the rap mogul nonetheless faces as much as 20 years in jail. Amid mounting hypothesis, high-profile protection lawyer Mark Geragos has publicly floated the concept of a presidential pardon, calling such a transfer “great” for Donald Trump in feedback to TMZ.

Speaking from LAX, Geragos added that Trump’s involvement wouldn’t be out of character, noting that conversations round a attainable pardon have been “seriously considered,” in accordance with reporting from Deadline. Geragos additionally disclosed a private tie to the case—his daughter served on Diddy’s protection workforce. While Trump initially advised NBC News in May that he would “look at the facts,” his tone shifted in a newer Newsmax interview, the place he mirrored on their previously cordial relationship, saying, “When I ran for office, he was very hostile.”

Though the jury cleared Diddy of essentially the most damning allegations, Trump later characterised the end result as “sort of half innocent,” a phrase that echoed the authorized ambiguity nonetheless hanging over the case. Whether the previous president acts on the suggestion stays to be seen.

Diddy’s Team Calls Case Moral, Not Criminal, as Sentencing Looms

With sentencing quick approaching, federal prosecutors have really useful a four-year time period, far under the statutory most. Diddy’s authorized workforce is pushing for a retrial, framing the underlying conduct not as prison however private and consensual. In their submitting, attorneys argue, “Mr. Combs, at most, paid to engage in voyeurism as part of a ‘swingers’ lifestyle,” which they contend doesn’t meet the authorized threshold for prostitution.

They additional keep that the trial proof pointed to transactions between Diddy and legally operated grownup leisure companies—interactions that, they are saying, had been consensual and sometimes fashioned the premise of longer-standing friendships. The protection’s movement makes an attempt to reframe the federal government’s case as one constructed extra on ethical judgment than authorized substance.

As Diddy prepares to be taught his destiny, the broader implications of his case—significantly the speak of a pardon—proceed to ripple by means of political and cultural circles. The risk of intervention from Trump introduces a flamable mixture of celeb, prison justice, and political calculation. Regardless of what occurs within the courtroom, the end result might form how the authorized system is perceived on the subject of high-profile defendants—and who receives the good thing about energy and proximity.