Why Diddy Got A ‘Standing Ovation’ After Being Found Guilty On 2 Charges
His fellow inmates might be a little starstruck.
Vahan Stepanyan | Shutterstock After a weeks-long trial that gripped pop culture fans everywhere, Sean “Diddy” Combs got a relatively light conviction that reportedly earned him a "standing ovation" from fellow inmates. The music mogul was found guilty of two of five charges, per ABC News, and they were arguably the lesser of the evils involved in the case.
He was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, according to CBS News. His legal team’s request that he be released from custody was denied, and Diddy is instead being held in a Brooklyn prison until he is sentenced. Apparently, he got quite the warm welcome from his fellow inmates.
Diddy’s lawyer said fellow inmates gave him a standing ovation when he arrived in prison.
Marc Agnifilo, one of the eight attorneys making up Diddy’s defense team, granted an interview to the Associated Press over the weekend. Among the shocking secrets revealed in the interview, such as Agnifilo having a premonition that Diddy would be convicted on the prostitution charges in the middle of the night, he explained how Diddy’s fellow inmates reacted to him when he turned up at a Brooklyn prison to serve his time until his sentencing.
It seems like the prison population may have been caught up in Diddy’s celebrity status, because they gave him a standing ovation when he walked in. “They all said: ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government,’” Agnifilo said.
The implication from Agnifilo’s words was that Diddy provided a sense of hope for other inmates, showing them that the government is not unbeatable. Ultimately, it is a jury of one’s peers that has the final say, not prosecutors. Attorney Mitchell Epner, who served as a federal prosecutor with Agnifilo in New Jersey years ago, said, “This was a major victory for the defense and a major loss for the prosecution.” He called Diddy’s defense a “dream team” who took on prosecutors used to getting their way.
Although Diddy may be getting the superstar treatment, even in prison, some believe that his judge has signaled he will give the rapper a substantial prison sentence.
Judge Arun Subramanian ignored the defense’s pleas for Diddy to be released while he awaited sentencing. According to Fox News, the judge cited video footage of him violently assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, as proof that he was a danger to the public. Former O.J. Simpson lawyer Robert Shapiro said this is telling.
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“Whether or not he had a criminal history, I don’t know,” Shapiro told Fox News Digital. “That could raise it. “But, having said that and having seen that this judge did not release him on bail, I think a message may be coming that you’re going to be spending a lot more time, so no reason to let you come out and come back in.”
Each of the counts Diddy was convicted of carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, meaning he could spend up to 20 years behind bars. Shapiro thinks this is unlikely, though. Instead, he estimates that the mogul will spend between two and a half and three and a half years incarcerated.
It is disappointing to hear that Diddy received an actual standing ovation after being convicted of federal crimes.
Many were unhappy with the fact that Diddy was acquitted of the more serious charges in his case, believing that he was guilty and deserved punishment. Those same people will undoubtedly be upset to hear that the rapper received an actual standing ovation from other prisoners because he supposedly found some way to beat the system.
Celebrating bad behavior in any form is unacceptable. Even if Diddy can be held up as some kind of folk hero who overcame what the government tried to put him through, he was still found guilty of criminal charges. That’s not something that deserves a standing ovation.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
