Disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years in prison and fined $500,000, after he was this summer found guilty of prostitution charges in a criminal trial in New York.
Combs learned his fate today in a sentencing hearing at a federal court in Manhattan, three months after the 55-year-old was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors had asked the judge overseeing the case to sentence Combs to at least 11 years and three months behind bars; his defense, meanwhile, had sought a prison term of no more than 14 months.
Under U.S. federal law, each count of transportation to engage in prostitution carried a maximum custodial sentence of 10 years.
“Broken to my core”
In a letter sent to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ahead of his sentencing, Combs had pleaded for “mercy” as he requested a light sentence.
“I humbly ask you for another chance – another chance to be a better father, another chance to be a better son, another chance to be a better leader in my community, and another chance to live a better life,” Combs wrote.
Combs, who has been held at New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center since September 2024, also wrote: “My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core.
“Jail is designed to break you mentally, physically and spiritually. Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead.
“The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you – I choose to live.”
What was Combs charged with in trial?
A rapper and record producer formerly known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs faced a total of five charges in his eight-week trial, which concluded at the beginning of July. He pleaded not guilty on all counts.
During the trial, held at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors said Combs had resorted to threats and violence to compel two ex-girlfriends – singer Cassie Ventura and a woman identified only as “Jane” – to participate in sexual encounters that have been referred to as ‘freak offs’.
On top of the two prostitution counts, Combs was accused of two counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering. However, he was acquitted of the trafficking and racketeering charges – both of which carried stiffer potential sentences than the prostitution counts.
Indeed, racketeering has a maximum sentence of life in prison. The statutory minimum sentence for sex trafficking, meanwhile, is 15 years.
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