By MICHAEL R. SISAK, LARRY NEUMEISTER and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced Friday to 4 years and 2 months in prison in case involving sex workers, violence and “freak-offs.” The judge said a lengthy sentence was needed for deterrence and that he was unconvinced that if Combs is released these crimes won’t happen again.
Combs, 55, was convicted in July of flying people across state lines for drug-fueled marathon sexual encounters. Jurors acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have carried a life sentence.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ sentencing hearing opened Friday with prosecutors pushing for a long prison term while his children tearfully asked the judge for mercy in a sordid criminal case involving the hip-hop mogul’s girlfriends and male sex workers.
Prosecutors want an 11-year sentence for Combs, 55, who was convicted in July of flying people across state lines for drug-fueled marathon sexual encounters. Jurors acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have carried a life sentence.
In a final word before the judge issues a sentence, Sean “Diddy” Combs called his past behavior “disgusting, shameful” and “sick,” while apologizing to the people he hurt physically and mentally, as well as his children in the audience. He said his acts of domestic violence are a burden he will have to carry for the rest of his life.
Combs’ defense lawyers have argued the sexual encounters were consensual and say Combs should be freed immediately after more than a year in detention, which forced him to get sober and fueled his remorse. They played an 11-minute video in court Friday portraying Combs’ family life, career and philanthropy before his arrest.
At one point during the video, Combs put a hand on his face and began to cry, his shoulders at times heaving. Combs was expected to speak in court later Friday.
The video was part of an atypical presentation by the defense team, reflecting Combs’ unique status as a wealthy celebrity client who’s well-versed in shaping his image.
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 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 speaking gig in South Florida next week, calling it “the height of hubris.” Defense lawyer Xavier Donaldson later said the proposed community events were meant to show what the business mogul could be doing “if the court let Mr. Combs out.”
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who has twice denied bail, has already signaled Combs is unlikely to leave custody soon. He said acquittals did not absolve the music mogul of underlying conduct, including violence and coercion.
Several of Combs children pleaded with him for leniency.
His daughters Chance and D’Lila Combs cried as they spoke, with D’Lila saying she feared losing her father after the death of their mother, Kim Porter, in 2018. Six of Combs’ seven children addressed the judge.
“Please, your honor, 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 the sidewalks as TV crews stood in a long row across the street, echoing scenes from Combs’ trial.
Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued 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 Jong relationship. Jurors saw video of him dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday “freak-off.
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.
The only accuser scheduled to speak Friday, a former assistant known as “Mia,” withdrew after defense 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.
Another lawyer for Combs, Brian Steel, urged the judge to see the case through the prism of the “untreated trauma” and “ferocious drug addiction” that he says contributed to the hip-hop mogul’s misconduct.
“His good outweighs his bad, by far,” Steel said.
In a letter to the judge Thursday, Combs wrote: “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.”
At a hearing last week, Combs told his mother and children he was “getting closer to going home.”
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Associated Press writers Liseberth Guillaume in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.