Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for prostitution – National

Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to just over four years in prison three months after committing two counts of prostitution.

Combs was fined 50 months and 50 months in a prison up to $500,000 possible for convictions for federal prostitution-related crimes. He will also be a supervised release of less than five years after being offered prison time.

In his ruling, Judge Arun Subramanian said, “The history of a good work cannot wash away records in this case. This shows that you abused and controlled the lives of a woman you have publicly declared you love.”

“You weren't John,” he added. “Even if currency fulfilled your sexual desires instead of money, you were more than that.”

“We have said that there is a considerable amount of sentence needed to send the message to abusers and victims that exploitation and violence against women is met with true accountability.”

Federal prosecutors asked Combs, 55, to be sentenced to at least 11 years and three months in prison. Comb's lawyers have already been in service at the Brooklyn prison for nearly 13 months, and have urged the judge to declare him within 14 months.

At the verdict hearing, six Combs children were crowded around the podium, begging the judge to give his father a second chance.

Quincy Brown, the 34-year-old son of Kim Porter, who was adopted by Combs, shared that his father “learned lessons.” The family watched him evolve, Brown said, and “he's completely transformed.”

“My father is my superhero, and I will never forget to see him breaking and stripping him of everything,” said another son, Justin Combs, 31.

His eldest daughter, Chance Combs, told the judge that she saw her “feeling authentic and lasting” while her father was in prison.

“When we speak, he speaks with a clear sense of purpose and mind that I have not always heard,” she added.

“I know how difficult it is to stand up here and tell me them, but it's important to listen,” Subramanian told them.

After a series of emotional statements from the child, Combs' legal team presented an 11-minute tribute video featuring charity, motivational speeches, home videos and clips showing the scenes of the rapper who mourns his late partner Porter, who died in 2018.

While speaking to the judge, Combs thanked Subramanian, saying that he “finally gave him the opportunity to speak for himself.” The former rapper did not testify during the trial.

“One of the hardest things I had to deal with is to be quiet. I can't express how unfortunate I am for my actions,” Combs said in a statement to the court.

“I would like to once again apologize to Cassie Ventura, both emotionally and physically for the harm and wounds I caused to her,” he added.

Combs called his actions “I hate it, I'm embarrassed, I made him sick.”

“Because of my decision, I lost my freedom, I raised my child effectively and the opportunity to be there for my mother,” Combs said. “I lost all my business, lost my career, completely ruined my reputation.”

Combs said he “lost my self-esteem” and he was “humble and broken by my nucleus.”

“I hate myself now. I didn't strip anything away,” Combs said. “I want to apologise to my seven children. I deserve everything.”

The verdict presents the conclusion of the New York trial of the disgraced hip-hop mogul, which began on May 5th.

In a letter to the Subramanians prior to his verdict, Combs declared himself a new man after realising he was “broken in my nucleus.”

“There have been so many times over the past year that I wanted to give up. I thought it would be better to die. The old man has died in prison, and a new version has been reborn. The prison will change you.

Combs admitted that “no one would blame anyone other than me for my current reality and situation.”

“In my life, I have made a lot of mistakes, but I'm not running away from them anymore,” he wrote. “I am very sorry for the wounds I caused, but I understand that the mere words “sorry” are never enough, as these words alone cannot erase the pain of the past. ”

He continued to apologise for hitting, kicking and dragging then-girlfriend Cassandra “Cathy” Ventura in 2016 at a Los Angeles hotel.

“My scenes and images of me attacking Cathy are playing over and over again every day,” Combs wrote. “I literally lost my heart. I put my hands on the woman I loved and was wrong. I'm sorry for that, and it's always going to happen.”

Rather than set an example from him in a long sentence, Combs asked the Subramanian to “make an example of what a person can do if given a second chance.”

Price: What led to Combs' ruling?

Comb has been behind the bar since his arrest in September 2024. He faced federal accusations that he was forcing his girlfriend to have a drug-fueled sex marathon with a male sex worker.

Comb had pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that prosecutors were trying to criminalize Combs' swinger lifestyle, and that if any, his actions amounted to domestic violence rather than federal felony.

In July, Combs was found guilty of two counts of prostitution, including transporting a Ventura, who is engaged in prostitution. He was also found guilty of transporting his ex-girlfriend “Jane” for the same purpose.

The founder of Bad Boy Records was acquitted in July at the highest rates – assault and sex trafficking. The defense has given three acquittals after it was found not guilty of running a criminal enterprise and running a two-count sex trafficking.

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Overall, 34 witnesses testified, with Combs' ex-girlfriends Ventura and “Jane” claiming. He testified under the pseudonym. Both women said he was often violent towards them. Ventura said he forced her into hundreds of sexual encounters with paid male sex workers, and Jane spoke many “hotel nights.”

After the verdict was read, Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo asked the court to release Combs from federal custody after he was no longer accused of sex trafficking.

Combs' legal team tries to secure his freedom

Combs was denied bail after a ju judge convicted of a federal prostitution-related crime in July.

Judge Subramanian states that Combs' violent history:

Agnifilo asked Combs to be released on conditional bail at his Miami home, offering him a US$1 million bond. Prosecutor Mohren Comey rebutted, telling Subramanian that Combs should remain in prison until the sentence.

Later that same month, Combs' lawyers asked the judge to release him on $50 million bonds while awaiting the sentence.

Agnifilo said the conditions for Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center were “dangerous,” and that defendants who were previously convicted of prostitution-related charges similar to Combs were usually announced prior to their sentence.

He argued that the court should release the comb “on reasonable terms” before the verdict. The lawyer argued that Combs “is not a risk of flight, but rather a risk to the community and certain people.”

Agnifilo said that if Combs was released in a situation, it would be “not violent for anyone.”

Combs' lawyers added a proposed bail package for rappers that includes terms such as “$50 million bonds protected by Combs' home in Miami.”

The judge once again refused Combs' bail.

His lawyers even revealed that they had contacted President Donald Trump for pardon following his conviction.

Sources close to Combs' legal team confirmed to NBC News that they had contacted the Trump administration.

This comes after Combs' defense team member Nicole Westmoreland told CNN that the music mogul team had contacted Trump for a potential pardon.

In early August, Trump told Newsmax that Combs' lawyers “talked me about Sean,” but it's unlikely to lent the music mogul.

“I was very friendly with him. I worked well with him and he looked like a good guy. I didn't know him very well. But when I took office he was very hostile,” Trump said.

When asked if Trump would likely be “no” to grant comb tolerance, he said, “I'd say that.”

Last month, Combs' lawyers urged the judge to sentence him in prison within 14 months for his conviction. In written submission, Combs' legal team said he was already fully punished.

They said their client was a “changed man” and they realized that his overuse of drugs contributed to the violent acts he took part in.

What's next for the comb?

Combs was not guilty and a new trial Tuesday, and the judge rejected the lawyer's claim that he is an amateur pornologist who is not engaged in prostitution, and refused that the conviction violated his initial right to amend.

“The government has proven the case many times, and in itself may be sufficient to dispose of the comb challenge,” Subramanian wrote in 16 pages of opinion and order.

“We cannot wash illegal activities into constitutionally protected activities.”

He called Combs' filming “accidental” and pointed to trial evidence that showed that, as film producers did, they didn't seek normal notifications or consent to filming.

– Use files from Associated Press

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