WARNING: This story contains allegations of sexual violence and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone affected by it.
Sean (Diddy) Combs was sentenced Friday to four years and two months in prison in a case involving sex workers, violence and “freak-offs.”
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said a lengthy sentence was needed for deterrence and that he was unconvinced that if the music mogul were released, these crimes wouldn’t happen again.
“Why did it happen so long?” 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.”
Combs, 55, was found guilty in July of flying people across state lines for drug-fuelled marathon sexual encounters. Jurors acquitted him of racketeering, conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges that could have carried a life sentence. Along with the prison time, he will also be required to pay $500,000 US, the maximum allowable fine given the charges.
Speaking at the hearing earlier in the day, Combs apologized and called his past behaviour “disgusting, shameful” and “sick.”
Sean (Diddy) Combs has been convicted of prostitution-related offences but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that could have put the hip hop mogul behind bars for life.
The hip-hop mogul also told the judge that his domestic violence is a burden that he will have to carry for the rest of his life. His testimony came hours after the hearing opened, with prosecutors arguing he should be locked up for more than twice the time he received and his children tearfully asking the judge to show mercy.
Prosecutors wanted more than 11 years behind bars for Combs, who was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs’s lawyers asked he be freed immediately. They offered an atypical presentation for a sentencing hearing, reflecting the unique nature of Combs’s reputation as a wealthy and philanthropic celebrity who’s well versed in making and shaping an image.
The defence also showed an 11-minute video. It portrayed Combs’s career and family life, showing him with his children or trying to inspire others, particularly children, in public settings.
At one point in the video, Combs put a hand over half his face and began crying, his shoulders at times heaving.
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 Subramanian 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. “He didn’t need the money. His currency was control.”
Slavik also blasted Combs for allegedly booking a speaking gig in south Florida next week, calling it “the height of hubris.”
Combs’s children testify
Conversely, Combs said his desire to tell his story and change others’ lives was not an effort to reduce his sentence.
“This story is real. This story is tragic,” he said. “I don’t have nothing else.”
He thanked the jury, and thanked the judge for giving him the confidence to believe in the jury, so that he didn’t have to testify. He thanked the jurors for acquitting him on the charges that carried potential life sentences. As for the other charges, he told the judge, “I don’t take lightly my… convictions.
“If you give me another chance, I won’t let you down. And the evidence of that is those beautiful children that got up there and spoke for me,” he said, referring to his children who had pleaded for leniency.
“My father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget,” Combs’s son, Justin Combs, said, adding jail had forced his father to give up drugs and alcohol.
Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Defence attorney Jason Driscoll argued the law was misapplied. Another lawyer, Nicole Westmoreland, grew emotional, saying Combs had inspired her personally.
“Mr. Combs is not larger than life. He’s a human being. And he’s made some mistakes,” Westmoreland said. “But judge, how many of us can say that we helped so many lives, countless lives?”
Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed the sidewalks, echoing scenes from Combs’s trial earlier this year.
During testimony, 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 Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multi-day “freak-off.”
A woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” said she was subjected to violence and felt obligated to perform sexually with male sex workers at drug-fuelled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
The only Combs accuser scheduled to speak in person Friday, a former personal assistant who testified under the pseudonym “Mia,” withdrew after defence objections. She has accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and asked the judge for a sentence that reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses.”
Prosecutors also introduced testimony at the trial about other alleged violence. One of Cassie’s friends said Combs dangled her from 17th floor balcony. Rapper Kid Cudi said Combs broke into his home after learning he was dating Cassie.
In a letter Thursday, Combs told the judge, “The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn,” promising he would never commit another crime.
Cassie, in her own letter, described him as an abuser who “will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”
Combs’s lawyers say the sexual encounters were consensual and that jail has spurred his sobriety and remorse. At a hearing last week, Combs told his mother and children that he is “getting closer to going home.”
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
