Sean “Diddy” Combs learned his fate in a manhattan coutroom today.
Concluding a legal saga that began with his arrest back in September of 2024, Combs was sentenced to more than four years in prison Friday afternoon.
Back in July, Diddy was convicted on charges of transporting prostitutes across state lines but acquitted on more serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
The sentencing hearing got off to a rocky start for Team Diddy, when prosecutors presented their claim that the defendant was so confident of an early release that he had already booked speaking gigs for next week.
A tale of two Diddies
Prosecutors portrayed Combs as a serial abuser with no respect for the law — one who has admitted to violent behavior but shown no remorse for his actions.
The defense offered a very different version of Combs:
They highlighted his involvement with New York City’s charter schools and the voter registration campaign he launched back in 2004.
The defense even put together an 11-minute documentary-style film highlighting Combs’ philanthropic efforts. According to CNN, Combs sobbed as the video was played in court.
As expected, several of Combs’ loved ones addressed the court, including his eldest son, 31-year-old Justin Combs.
Diddy’s children plea for lenient sentencing
“I ask that you give my father a second chance, a second chance at life, a second chance to right his wrongs, a second chance to be the man he truly is,” Justin told the judge in a prepared statement.
“My father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget,” he continued.
Justin added that after years of addiction, Diddy is now drug-free and dedicated to his ultimate goal of being a leader to his family.
“I can truly sincerely say he’s changed for the better. Your honor, I believe my father still has so much more to give the world and, more importantly, so much more to give his children,” he explained.
“I know how hard it was to stand up here and tell me those things, but it’s important for me to hear,” told Diddy’s children after hearing their statements.
“You find yourself, I think, saying you have two people here — who’s the real Sean Combs?” defense attorney Xavier Donaldson asked at one point. “I like to believe that the real Sean Combs is in the grain of all those letters you read and what you heard from the family.”
The defense suffered a blow when Judge Arun Subramanian told the court that he saw no need to stray from the usual sentencing guidelines:
Mann Act violations of this nature typically bring a sentence of just under six years to just over seven years.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence of more than 11 years, due to the abusive nature of Combs’ crimes.
The defense had argued Combs should get no more than 14 months, which would have likely had him back on the street as early as today, as the disgraced mogul has been locked up since September of last year.
Prior to his sentencing, Diddy addressed the court for the first time:
“One of the hardest things that I’ve had to handle is having to be quiet. Not being able to express how sorry I am for my actions,” Sean “Diddy” Combs said in his statement to the court.
“I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused her – emotionally or physically,” he continued, adding:
“Growing up as a kid, I just wanted to be a shining example of what we could do,” Combs said. “I say we, as people of color, that we could own our own businesses, take care of our own communities, raise our own children, solve our own problems, create our own wealth, take care of our own problems.
“That was my mission. I got lost. I’m not this bad person. I’m sorry to my community for letting y’all down.”
““A history of good works can not erase the power and control you had over the women you professed to love dearly. You abused them physically, emotionally and psychologically and you used that to get your way,” Judge Subramanian countered in his address to Combs.
He added that the cour was the court was “not assured” that if Combs was released that “these crimes will not be committed again.”
Therefore, he explained, “a substantial sentence must be given.”
The judge rejected the prosecution’s request for an 11-year sentence and instead handed down a sentence of 50 months.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.