New York, Oct 4: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced Friday to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, capping a sordid federal case that featured harrowing testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most influential figures in hip-hop.
Since Combs has already served a year in jail, the sentence means that the 55-year-old could get out in about three years. While prosecutors sought a sentence of more than 11 years, his lawyers wanted him freed immediately and said the time behind bars has already forced his remorse and sobriety.
Combs was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fuelled sexual encounters in multiple places and over many years. However, he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.
“Why did it happen so long?” US District Judge Arun Subramanian asked as he handed down the sentence. “Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught.”
Subramanian, who also fined Combs USD 500,000, the maximum allowed, praised the accusers who testified at trial. They effectively spoke for countless others who experienced abuse, the judge said, “You gave them a voice. You stood up to power.”
Combs, sitting at the defence table, looked straight ahead as the judge spoke. He remained subdued afterward and appeared dejected, with none of the enthusiasm and smiles he displayed while interacting with his lawyers and family earlier in the day.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said to his family right before leaving the courtroom.
Combs’ lawyers said they’ll appeal.
“What we feel today is that the judge acted as a 13th juror, one we did not choose, and that he second guessed the jury’s verdict,” defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo told reporters after leaving court.
Before sentencing, Combs wept as his defense lawyers played a video portraying his family life, career and philanthropy, and he went on to make a plea for leniency.
“I ask your honour for a chance to be a father again,” Combs said, “a son again … a leader in my community again … for a chance to get the help that I desperately need to be a better person.” He apologised to the people he hurt physically and mentally with his “disgusting, shameful” actions, and said the domestic violence was a burden he would carry for the rest of his life.
His nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed them. Prosecutor Christy Slavik told the judge Friday that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence.
“It’s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,” she said. “His currency was control. And he weaponised that currency to devastating effects on the victims.”
Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime. Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued Friday the law was misapplied.
During testimony at the trial, former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. Jurors saw video of him dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday “freak-off.”
“While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs,” Cassie’s attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog, said in a statement, “the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed.”
Another woman, identified as “Jane,” testified she was pressured into sex with male workers during drug-fueled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
Combs’ lawyers argued at trial that the government was trying to criminalise consensual, if unconventional, sexual tastes.
The only accuser scheduled to speak Friday, a former assistant known as “Mia,” withdrew after defence objections; Slavik accused Combs’ attorneys of “bullying” the woman. She has accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and asked the judge in a letter for a sentence that reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses.”
Six of Combs’ seven children addressed the judge, pleading for mercy for their father. One daughter, D’Lila Combs, said she feared losing her father after the death of her mother, Kim Porter, in 2018.
“Please, your honour, please,” D’Lila said through tears, “give our family the chance to heal together, to rebuild, to change, to move forward, not as a headline, but as human beings.”
Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed, echoing scenes from Combs’ trial.
Sade Bess, a Combs fan from Brooklyn, left the court’s overflow observation room looking both sad and relieved.
“It’s devastating to see a pioneer of the Black community’s legacy nearly diminished,” she said. “But the judge showed mercy by giving him a second chance, while still honouring the victims.” (AP)
