Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs awaits sentencing in New York after high-profile trial

NEW YORK: Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to be sentenced on Friday in a New York courtroom following his conviction on two prostitution-related charges, offenses that could see him spend over a decade behind bars.

The verdict came after a dramatic two-month federal trial that gripped the public, with jurors ultimately acquitting Combs of the most serious allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering, which could have resulted in a life sentence. Nonetheless, the remaining charges each carry a potential 10-year prison term.

Also read: Tears, prayers, exultation: Diddy radiates relief after partial acquittal

Federal prosecutors are pushing for a minimum 11-year sentence, painting the 55-year-old as a danger to the public and showing no remorse. In contrast, Combs’s defense team argues for a significantly shorter sentence of 14 months, effectively time already served during his pre-sentencing incarceration in Brooklyn.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian will weigh the sentencing guidelines, victim impact statements, and character references before issuing his decision. Among the materials submitted is a letter from Combs himself, in which he pleads for leniency, apologizes for his actions, and expresses fear of further separation from his family.

“I will never commit a crime again,” Combs wrote. “I am scared to death to be away from my children.”

One of the most powerful victim statements came from Combs’s former partner, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. In a harrowing letter, she recounted years of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, describing an incident caught on video where Combs beat her during what prosecutors referred to as a forced “freak-off”, a term used to describe coerced group sex encounters.

“The footage shows me curled on the ground, covering my head as he kicked me,” Ventura wrote. She added that the trauma continues to affect her daily life and said she has since relocated with her family for fear of retaliation if Combs is released.

Prosecutors said that these accounts as evidence of Combs’s ongoing threat to others, while his defense acknowledged past violent behavior but claimed the acts did not rise to the level of federal crimes. They further argued that the sex acts shown in videos and messages were consensual.

Combs’s attorneys maintain he has already paid a steep price through his incarceration and reputational collapse. They described his time behind bars as transformative, with Combs himself calling it a period of being “humbled and broken to my core.”

The conviction stems from a federal law barring the transportation of individuals across state lines for prostitution. Defense lawyers had tried unsuccessfully to overturn the verdict.

Also read: Jury in Sean Diddy Combs’ sex trafficking trial to start deliberating

As the sentencing looms, speculation continues over whether Combs could receive a presidential pardon. Sources close to the music mogul have reportedly reached out to the White House, though President Donald Trump, who once socialised in the same New York celebrity circles as Combs, has not commented on the matter.

Whatever Judge Subramanian decides, the case marks a stunning fall from grace for one of hip-hop’s most influential figures, whose career now stands in stark contrast to his legal reality.