Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison following the whirlwind trial for sex trafficking and racketeering. The defence had attempted to argue that their client has been a “model prisoner,” but Judge Arun Subramanian wasn’t won over. “The court has to consider all of your history here,” he said. “[It] shows that you abused the power and control over the lives of the women who you professed to love… The court is not assured that if released, these crimes will not be committed again.“
Federal prosecutors had recommended that Combs receive 11 years and 3 months in prison and pay a $500,000 fine, while the defence argued that he should serve no more than 14 months. The sentence generally aligns with the probation office’s recommendations. The defence is expected to file an appeal immediately. Combs was acquitted of the more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering charges earlier this year.
However, the fallen music mogul is still facing dozens of civil suits. There have been accusations of sex-related crimes from at least 120 men and women dating back to 1991, some of whom were underage at the time, with the youngest accuser said to be just nine years old when the assault took place.
Prior to sentencing, Combs wrote a letter to Judge Subramanian. “In my life, I have made many mistakes, but I am no longer running from them. I am so sorry for the hurt that I caused, but I understand that the mere words ‘I’m sorry’ will never be good enough as these words alone cannot erase the pain from the past,” he wrote. “Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you — I choose to live.” He added, “If you allow me to go home to my family, I promise I will not let you down, and I will make you proud.“
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura, who was a key figure in the case, wrote her own letter to Judge Subramanian, saying she still has nightmares about her former partner. “His defense attorneys claim that he is a changed man, and he wants to mentor abusers,” she said. “I know firsthand what real mentorship means, and this disgusts me; he is not being truthful. I know that who he was to me — the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker — is who he is as a human. He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.“
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