Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to more than four years in prison. Photo / Getty Images
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for prostitution-related crimes, capping a dramatic, all-day court hearing during which the music mogul apologised and begged for mercy.
Prosecutors had sought 11 years behind bars for the 55-year-old Combs, but District Judge Arun Subramanian handed down a 50-month sentence and a US$500,000 fine.
Combs’ lawyers had urged the judge to sentence the hip-hop star to 14 months, which would effectively have been time served since he has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.
Combs was acquitted by a jury in July of the most serious charges against him – sex trafficking and racketeering – but convicted of two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
The judge allowed the defence to present for hours Friday (local time) on Combs’ behalf, time during which the disgraced artist himself also gave an emotional address.
At the end of it all, Subramanian had piercing words for Combs and poignant ones for the victims who testified during Combs’ trial.
“We heard you,” the judge said in his statement to the witnesses who spoke in excruciating detail of prolonged, coercive and devastating abuse at the hands of Combs.
“The number of people who you reached is incalculable,” he said in comments for Combs’ former partners, who were not present.
“You stood up to power. It’s not easy.”
Subramanian said he was bound by the law to deliver a sentence that met the gravity of Combs’ “serious offences” which he said had “irreparably harmed two women”.
“The court is not assured that if released these crimes will not be committed again.”
But even Subramanian himself noted that the punishment he rendered was significantly shorter than the range probation officers had recommended, of 70 to 87 months.
He told Combs he was counting on him to “make the most of your second chance”.
Tearfully addressing the court before the judge handed down the sentence, Combs said he was “truly sorry” for his actions.
“I ask your honour for mercy,” he said. “I beg your honour for mercy.”
He apologised to his family as well as his victims, saying his behaviour was “disgusting, shameful and sick”.
“I was sick. Sick from the drugs. I was out of control. I needed help but I didn’t get the help,” Combs said.
Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura submitted a letter to the judge asking him to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control”.
Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, described in wrenching detail the physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered during a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.
Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.
Ventura said she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis”.
She told the judge she and her family had left the New York area for fear of retribution from Combs if he is released.
In reaction to the sentencing her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor commended Ventura for her “bravery”.
“While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognises the impact of the serious offences he committed.”
Prosecutor Christy Slavik, arguing for the 11-year sentence, said Combs had not accepted responsibility for his actions.
“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said.
And in arguing for a far lesser sentence, Nicole Westmoreland, one of Combs’ lawyers, called him an “inspiration” to the Black community and a social justice crusader.
The judge recognised that accomplishment as well as Combs’ mammoth success in the entertainment business, and also acknowledged the hardship Combs’ additional incarceration would have on his family.
During the proceedings Combs’ six adult children each delivered an emotional plea on their father’s behalf, with several of them dubbing him a “changed man”.
“Please, please give our family the chance to heal together,” said one of his daughters, D’Lila Combs.
“Not as headlines but as human beings.”
Subramanian pointed out to Combs that his prison time was not lifelong.
“You are going to get through this,” the judge said to him and his family.
“You have a universe of people who love you,” he told Combs. “Let them lift you up now just as you have lifted them up for so many years.”
- Agence France-Presse