Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in prison today by US District Judge Arun Subramanian after being convicted on July 2 of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
While Jurors acquitted Combs, 55, of his three most serious charges: racketeering conspiracy, and the alleged sex trafficking of ex girlfriends Cassie Ventura and ‘Jane’, a pseudonym.
Throughout the trial, Ventura and Jane testified that they often felt they had no choice but to do what Combs told them. Ventura testified that Combs regularly beat her, punched her, stomped on her face, threw her to the ground, and threatened to release her sex tapes if she didn’t do what he wanted at his “freak off” parties.
In arguments previewed in a sentencing brief, Combs pleaded for a maximum of 14 months in prison on Friday. His defense claimed Combs’ actions were due to traumatic childhood and “ferocious” drug addiction, further arguing that his conviction was an outlier under federal law because it lacked a “profit motive” or any “brothels, pimps, or minors.”
However, the prosecutors said the motive was his own sexual gratification, asking for a sentence of 11 years and three months in custody, arguing an “unrepentant” Combs committed his crimes while subjecting his ex-girlfriends to “violence, coercion, and abuse.”
In his own statement to the court on Friday, Combs said he was deeply “sorry” for his actions.
“I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused her – emotionally or physically,” he said after asking for a minute to compose himself, according to CNN. “I’ve been humbled and broken to my core. I hate myself right now. I got stripped down to nothing. … I beg your honor for mercy.”
During a separate hearing last week, Combs’ defense argued a motion asking the judge to either vacate the jury’s convictions or order a new trial. In a 16-page ruling Tuesday, Judge Subramanian rejected all of Combs’ arguments including the claim that Combs was an amateur porn producer whose “freak-off” sessions and videos were protected by his First Amendment rights.
