NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs<\/a> was sentenced Friday to 4 years and 2 months in prison in case involving sex workers, violence and \u201cfreak-offs.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said a lengthy sentence was needed for deterrence and that he was unconvinced that if Combs is released these crimes won\u2019t happen again. Since Combs has served a year in prison already, the sentence means he would be released in about three years.<\/p>\n The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul<\/a> was convicted in July<\/a> of flying people across state lines for drug-fueled marathon sexual encounters that were deemed violations of the the Mann Act<\/a>. Jurors acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have carried a life sentence.<\/p>\n The Latest:<\/p>\n \u201cWhile nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed,\u201d attorney Douglas Wigdor said in a statement. \u201cWe are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms. Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.\u201d<\/p>\n This item has been corrected to include Wigdor\u2019s statement issued Friday on the sentencing. The Associated Press previously erroneously published text from a statement Wigdor released after Combs was convicted in July, which was mistakenly sent to AP immediately after the sentencing.<\/p>\n The judge imposed a $500,000 fine and ordered five years of supervised release after he leaves prison.<\/p>\n Combs can appeal his convictions, of course, and his lawyers have said they will. They have 14 days to file notice.<\/p>\n Combs showed no visible change of emotion as he learned his sentence, sitting in his chair and looking straight ahead as the judge spoke. He remained subdued afterward and appeared dejected, with none of the enthusiasm and smiles that accompanied his interactions with lawyers and his family earlier in the day.<\/p>\n He also appeared somewhat worn out from a long day of sentencing arguments that seemed to drain him as time passed.<\/p>\n Throughout his trial and earlier in the day, he gave numerous gestures of encouragement to his family, including pats to his heart, a blown kiss to his mother and a thumbs up. But after he learned of the yearslong sentence, he turned to his mother and children among spectators and let out a sigh before telling them: \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have voices, but you have a megaphone,\u201d the judge told Combs, saying he has a chance to show the world what \u201creal accountability\u201d and change can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m counting on you to make the most of your second chance,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n Combs stood, adjusted his sweater, turned briefly to the gallery, then sat back down at the defense table.<\/p>\n Subramanian said they shared \u201chorrific stories, but stories of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe heard you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He singled out Cassie and \u201cJane,\u201d and the other women who testified.<\/p>\n \u201cI am proud of you for coming to the court to tell the world what really happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is hard time in prison, away from your family, friends and community, but you will have a life afterward,\u201d the judge told Combs.<\/p>\n Since Combs has served a year in prison already, this sentence means he would be released in about three years.<\/p>\n During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian rejected the defense\u2019s argument that this was the byproduct of consensual sexual conduct and a celebrity musician\u2019s lifestyle.<\/p>\n \u201cYou had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren\u2019t caught. You paid for and organized these acts. You were no John. You were responsible for that, even if your currency was sexual desires and not money.\u201d<\/p>\n Subramanian is excoriating Combs for his persistent violence, focusing part of his remarks on his assault on \u201cJane\u201d just last year, which was after Combs knew he was under federal investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve considered the fact that you are a self-made artist and businessman who has innovated, inspired and lifted up communities, including communities of color, worldwide,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n Subramanian also said he appreciates the discussion of the impact of a sentence on Combs’ family. He said he also appreciates that addiction \u201cmay have exacerbated your violent and erratic behavior over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n All this said, \u201ca history of good works can\u2019t wash away the record of this case,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n The evidence shows he abused and controlled women in his life, he said. \u201cThe evidence of abuse with respect to freak-offs and hotel nights is massive,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n Following his time in prison, the judge sentenced combs to another five years of supervised release.<\/p>\n The judge said a lengthy sentence was needed for deterrence and that he was unconvinced that if Combs is released these crimes won\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Combs says his desire to tell his story and change others\u2019 lives is not an effort to reduce his sentence.<\/p>\n \u201cThis story is real. This story is tragic,” he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n He thanked the jury, and thanked the judge for giving him the confidence to believe in the jury, so that he didn\u2019t have to testify. He thanked the jurors for acquitting him on two charges that carry potential life sentences. As for the other charges, he told the judge, \u201cI don\u2019t take lightly my Mann Act convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n “If you give me another chance, I won\u2019t let you down,” he said. “And the evidence of that is those beautiful children that got up there and spoke for me.\u201d<\/p>\n He then turned to his children, said he loves them, and told the judge he would never again jeopardize his chance to be with them.<\/p>\n \u201cI ask your honor for mercy,” he continued. “I beg your honor for mercy. I ask your honor for a chance to be a father again, a son again, a leader in my community again \u2014 for a chance to get the help that I desperately need to be a better person because I don\u2019t want to let God down, I don\u2019t want to let my family down.\u201d<\/p>\n Combs then said he\u2019s willing to comply with any conditions the judge imposes when he\u2019s released.<\/p>\n \u201cI have nobody to blame but myself. I know I\u2019ll never put my hands on another person again. I know that I have learned my lesson,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I take full accountability and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Going through all the people he said he failed, Combs touched on the disappointment his behavior has brought to Black people, a community he had sought to uplift.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was my mission. I got lost. I\u2019m not this bad person. I\u2019m sorry to my community for letting you all down.\u201d<\/p>\n He said to the judge, “if given a chance, people can change. I know I\u2019ve changed.\u201d<\/p>\n And his voice broke as he apologized to his mother.<\/p>\n He began to cry as he told her: \u201cI failed you as a son. You taught me better. You raised me better.\u201d<\/p>\n He says he lost his businesses, his career, his reputation, \u201cbut most of all, I lost my self-respect.\u201d<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve been stripped down to nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n He says domestic violence is a burden he will have to carry for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n He blames his drug use, in part, for his behavior. He says he was raised to know better, taught to know better by his mother and his faith.<\/p>\n 1. to Cassie, for any physical or emotional harm he caused her \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t take that lightly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 2. to Cassie\u2019s family and to \u2018Jane\u2019: \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to hurt you. I\u2019m sorry I brought you into my mess.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. to all victims of domestic violence, saying he knows that the \u201cdisgusting, despicable video\u201d of him beating Cassie was triggering for people around the world.<\/p>\n<\/ul>\n Speaking at his sentencing hearing, Combs apologized and called his past behavior \u201cdisgusting, shameful\u201d and \u201csick.\u201d<\/p>\n The hip-hop mogul told the judge Friday that his domestic violence is a burden that he will have to carry for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n Combs let out a deep breath and then began speaking, starting by thanking the judge.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank you for finally giving me a chance to speak up for myself. One of the hardest things I\u2019ve had to handle is to be quiet, not able to express how sorry I am for my actions.\u201d<\/p>\n A founder of a private school where Combs is scheduled to speak if he\u2019s released believes \u201ceverybody deserves a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Thea White is one of the founders of the Sprouting to Success School in Miami Gardens, Florida. White told The Associated Press that Combs will address kids in the K-12 school on Oct. 14 if the judge lets him out of jail.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that life isn\u2019t just about never making mistakes \u2014 it\u2019s more about what we do after we make those mistakes,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n She declined to say how the speaking engagement came together.<\/p>\n The prosecutor hit back at the Combs team\u2019s portrayal of him as a man devoted to helping others and improving their lives.<\/p>\n She, by contrast, cited \u201cthe words of one person whose life the defendant has changed\u201d — Cassie.<\/p>\n Slavik read from a letter that the R&B singer submitted to the judge, saying that she still has regular flashbacks and nightmares about Combs\u2019 abuse: \u201cMy experience was real, horrific, and deserves to be considered,\u201d Cassie wrote.<\/p>\n Some Combs fans have come to the courthouse for the sentencing, where they have been watching the proceedings on closed-circuit monitors in overflow rooms.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here to see how the justice system plays out, to compare what others of his caliber and color have faced with the sentence Sean Combs will receive today,\u201d said Desiree Monroe, who came from Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Combs himself will address the judge after a short break<\/p>\n After the defense lawyers and witnesses had their say, prosecutor Christy Slavik is getting a chance to rebut their presentation.<\/p>\n She\u2019s telling the judge that Combs \u201cis a master puppeteer of his own image. \u2026 but that image is incomplete, and it\u2019s misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n Slavik contrasted the highly produced 11-minute biographical defense video played in court on Friday when the gritty, raw security camera footage that showed him kicking, beating and dragging his former longtime girlfriend, Cassie, at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.<\/p>\n That video, she said, \u201cshows the defendant for who he is when he doesn\u2019t know the camera is rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n Agnifilo says that multiple doctors diagnosed the hip hop mogul with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said they made such findings in 2014, 2017 and 2020.<\/p>\n The attorney says it\u2019s unclear what initial trauma triggered the problem, though he noted his father\u2019s death when he was a toddler.<\/p>\n Agnifilo acknowledged that \u201cwe\u2019re asking for a lot\u201d by seeking Combs\u2019 immediate release. But, he argues, the \u201cI\u2019ll Be Missing You\u201d singer has been uniquely punished \u2014 not only with a year in jail, but with the public spectacle of raids on his home, a flurry of civil lawsuits and the destruction of his businesses.<\/p>\n The executive director of the organization sponsoring Combs\u2019 planned talks spoke briefly in court about the benefits he sees in having the music, fashion and business mogul speak to people who\u2019ve also been involved in the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen an individual has the willingness to create his own life skills and entrepreneurship program, despite his legal challenges, that demonstrates reform and rehabilitation,\u201d said Giovanni Sairras, of Re-Entry One Inc.<\/p>\n Combs is slated to give seven talks this month in the Miami area, provided he\u2019s released from federal custody, beginning on Monday at a work release center. A prosecutor blasted Combs for scheduling the talks when he\u2019s facing a potential yearslong sentence, calling it \u201cthe height of hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n Sairras said he was impressed by letters shared with him expressing how Combs had a positive impact on the fellow inmates he taught in Jail.<\/p>\n After a prosecutor criticized Combs\u2019 plans for \u201cteaching engagements\u201d in Florida as soon as next week, defense lawyer Xavier Donaldson told the judge that the proposed community events were meant to show what the former rap impresario would be doing \u201cif the court let Mr. Combs out.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re not meant as money-making ventures, but rather as \u201cpurposeful,\u201d \u201cintentional\u201d activities that would show he would be \u201cin a structured environment,\u201d Donaldson added.<\/p>\n In a Sept. 29 letter to the court, a Combs\u2019 supporter at a Miami-based nonprofit that helps prisoners readjust to freedom said he had scheduled Combs to speak at \u201cteaching engagements\u201d at a prison and various other facilities in South Florida this month, starting Monday.<\/p>\n Defense lawyer Xavier Donaldson took issue with the prosecution\u2019s contention that Combs acted like a pimp as he engaged in prostitution-related crimes.<\/p>\n Unlike pimps, Combs didn\u2019t recruit women to engage in paid sex work, nor did he make any money off of their work, the lawyer said.<\/p>\n Rev. Gary Johnson, a Florida preacher, encouraged the judge to release Combs to probation, saying it pains him to see the one-time rap star locked up.<\/p>\n Johnson, a chaplain for the Miami Beach Police Department, said he would personally guarantee that Combs continues his rehabilitation post-incarceration.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you free him,\u201d Johnson told the judge, \u201cwe\u2019ll help free his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Steel urged the judge to only consider the conduct for which Combs was convicted, reiterating that the mogul was acquitted of the most serious charges, sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.<\/p>\n \u201cSean Combs is a leader. He is a civil rights leader. His good outweighs his bad, by far,\u201d Steel said.<\/p>\n The judge said earlier Friday that he will weigh all relevant conduct \u2014 including Combs\u2019 violence \u2014 as he decides on a sentence. He left in place an \u201cenhancement\u201d for coercion, citing Combs\u2019 threats to his longtime former girlfriend Cassie to publicly release videos of their so-called \u201cfreak-offs.\u201d<\/p>\n Combs\u2019 celebrity could be used to spread an anti-drug, anti-crime message if he\u2019s freed. \u201cHe can be a spokesperson,\u201d Steel said.<\/p>\n He said another attorney would address plans for upcoming events apparently featuring Combs in Florida, according to a letter sent to the court by a Miami-based nonprofit that helps prisoners readjust to freedom.<\/p>\n The letter lists a series of \u201cteaching engagements\u201d at a prison and various other facilities in South Florida, starting Monday.<\/p>\n Prosecutor Christy Slavik said Friday morning that planning for Combs to walk free by then is \u201cthe height of hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n Steel urged Subramanian to see the case through the prism of the \u201cuntreated trauma\u201d and \u201cferocious drug addiction\u201d that he says contributed to the hip-hop mogul\u2019s misconduct. He noted that Combs was three years old when his father was murdered, leaving his mother, Janice, to raise him by herself.<\/p>\n Steel also noted that Combs\u2019 best friend, Christopher Wallace \u2014 the rapper known as Biggie Smalls and the Notorious B.I.G. \u2014 was murdered in 1997. And then he got hooked on on painkillers following a medical procedure in 2000, and his addiction \u201cgot out of hand,\u201d even causing him to \u201cflat line\u201d at times. He was high \u201cevery single day,\u201d Steel said.<\/p>\n Steel called Combs a \u201cmoral man,\u201d a \u201cstrong man,\u201d \u201ca family man,\u201d and the \u201chardest working person that I have ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was medicating because his body was hurt and his emotions were hurt. But he never stopped working. And all of that, the drug addiction and the trauma \u2014 untreated, your honor \u2014 caused him to hit, on occasion… the woman he loved.\u201d<\/p>\n Steel said Combs remains haunted by his violent outbursts, remembering \u201cevery strike\u201d he\u2019s inflicted.<\/p>\n He stood just feet away from them as they approached the lectern. Then he sat back down, watching them intently. At times, he cast his head down and shook it. And when he seemed particularly upset, he dropped his head down and ran his hands through his hair.<\/p>\n Immediately after the children finished speaking, the defense showed the video, including clips of Combs with his children or trying to inspire others, particularly children, in public settings. Several minutes in, Combs put a hand over half his face and began crying, his shoulders at times heaving. Then he wiped his eyes with one hand before taking a tissue and doing the same.<\/p>\n Part of the video showed him running competitively, including finishing a New York Road Runners race. In one clip, he wore a t-shirt that said: \u201cI am the American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Later Friday, the defense cited his children’s emotional pleas, saying he needs to be free for his family\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n \u201cHe grew up without a father, his mother working all the time, and he swore that he would be there for his children,\u201d Brian Steel said. \u201cThat\u2019s what Sean is fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n Combs is a wealthy celebrity with a robust legal team. And as a music producer, TV executive and fashion force, he\u2019s well-versed in making and shaping an image \u2014 evident in the production values of the video they played for the judge. The 11-minute video includes highlights from his home videos, business exploits and more. It showcases him as a parent, businessman and a philanthropist.<\/p>\n His lawyers contrasted his case with what they say are other prostitution-related cases involving far more heinous conduct. And Westmoreland delivered an emotional soliloquy that accentuated his impact on the Black community and fellow inmates, and his desire to effect positive change once he\u2019s out from behind bars.<\/p>\n Three more defense lawyers and Combs himself are expected to speak after 2 p.m., when they return from lunch.<\/p>\n Six of Combs\u2019 seven children spoke. His youngest daughter, Love, is just two years old. The judge thanked them afterward, saying he appreciated that doing so was difficult but it was important for the court to hear.<\/p>\n His daughters Chance and D\u2019Lila Combs cried as they read prepared remarks. D\u2019Lila saying she fears losing their father to prison and effectively being parentless after the 2018 death of her mother, Kim Porter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are tired of being strong. We have already lost so much. We have lost our mother, we have lost time with our father, and every day he remains incarcerated, we lose more and more. Please, your honor, please,\u201d D\u2019Lila Combs said, crying, \u201cgive our family the chance to heal together, to rebuild, to change, to move forward, not as a headline, but as human beings. We\u2019re trying to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n Chance Combs said: \u201cInstead of making excuses, my father now works on ways to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Son Christian Combs said the impresario has become \u201cmore patient, more relaxed, more trusting, more understanding and just a better man\u201d while in jail.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease give my family grace. Please let my father out,\u201d Christian Combs said. \u201cPlease give him mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re crowding around the podium, imploring the judge to give their father a second chance.<\/p>\n His eldest son, Quincy Brown, says his father \u201chas learned a lesson.\u201d The family has seen him evolve, Brown says, and \u201che is completely transformed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget,\u201d said another son, Justin Combs.<\/p>\n He suggested that as tough as the ordeal has been, it probably saved his father\u2019s life because, during his year in jail, he has kicked drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n Combs\u2019 reputation as a successful businessman followed him inside the Brooklyn federal jail where he\u2019s been held since his arrest last year.<\/p>\n With other inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center asking him for advice on a daily basis, Combs agreed to teach a six-week class dubbed \u201cFree Game with Diddy,\u201d Westmoreland said.<\/p>\n Before the class, Combs made a deal with his fellow inmates, the lawyer said: If he was going to teach them, they would have to stay peaceful and let everyone on the unit who wanted to participate do so \u2014 even if they had differences.<\/p>\n \u201cYour honor, this is change. This is inspiration. This had not happened at the MDC, ever,\u201d Westmoreland said.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Combs can reach so many more on the outside than he can on the inside,\u201d she concluded. \u201cIt is of no benefit to anyone to warehouse him in a prison.\u201d<\/p>\n Westmoreland grew emotional as she recounted Combs\u2019 accomplishments as a Black entrepreneur, explaining that he was an inspiration to her.<\/p>\n She said that as she was trying to make her way as an attorney about eight years ago, she attended an event where he spoke and encouraged the audience not to be afraid to dream \u2014 but to follow up with action and help others.<\/p>\n \u201cThat changed my life,\u201d she said, with a sniffle.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Combs is not larger than life. He\u2019s a human being. And he\u2019s made some mistakes. He has flaws, like we all do,\u201d Westmoreland said. \u201cBut judge, how many of us can say that we helped so many lives, countless lives?\u201d<\/p>\n Defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland is discussing Combs\u2019 life and career as a hip-hop artist and businessman who owned his own record company and fashion label. Some of his achievements, she said, were milestones for the Black community and helped inspire others to follow their own dreams.<\/p>\n Westmoreland choked up as she talked about Combs\u2019 Revolt TV network, which offered a mix of programming focused on hip-hop culture, R&B music, social justice and documentaries.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read the AP\u2019s timeline of Combs\u2019 life and career<\/a><\/p>\n Attorney Jason Driscoll started by recapping the defense\u2019s argument that the Mann Act<\/a>, which Combs was convicted of violating, should never have been applied to him. The 115-year-old federal law prohibits taking someone across state lines for criminal sexual activity.<\/p>\n Driscoll argued that Mann Act prosecutions generally have targeted people accused of making money off their conduct. He asserted that Combs \u201cdid not make a single cent\u201d from what he was convicted of doing.<\/p>\n Slavik urged the judge to take an opportunity with his sentence to send a message to victims, the public and would-be perpetrators that Combs\u2019 crimes were serious and are being punished accordingly.<\/p>\n A lenient sentence might encourage more people to commit such crimes, knowing they won\u2019t face much consequence, she argued.<\/p>\n A lengthy sentence, she said, would potentially deter such behavior. She again urged the judge to sentence Combs to at least 11 years and 3 months behind bars.<\/p>\n Besides pointing to Combs\u2019 conduct toward Cassie, prosecutors emphasized testimony from another of his ex-girlfriends, who testified under the pseudonym \u201cJane.\u201d<\/p>\n The former model dated Combs from 2021 until his September 2024 arrest. At his trial, she said he repeatedly pressured her into having sex with other men against her will, and that one night in June 2024, he put her in a chokehold, punched her in the face and forced her into an encounter with a sex worker<\/a>.<\/p>\n Combs already knew by then that he was under investigation, Slavik noted in her sentencing argument. She suggested the episode showed that when challenged, \u201che reacts unpredictably and abusively.\u201d<\/p>\n Slavik slammed Combs\u2019 letter Thursday night to the judge seeking leniency, saying that he portrayed himself as the victim of his own bad behavior.<\/p>\n \u201cEven in his submission last night, his remorse was qualified,\u201d the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n In the letter, Combs wrote: \u201cMy domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry.\u201d<\/p>\n By framing it that way, Slavik said, it\u2019s \u201clike he\u2019s the victim in this scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a person who has accepted responsibility,\u201d Slavik said.<\/p>\n Slavik suggests that there are reasons to be skeptical about that claim, but that in in any event, \u201chis victims don\u2019t have the luxury of moving on so easily. They\u2019re still picking up the pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe violence in this case was uncontested,\u201d Slavik said, pointing to the defense\u2019s trial admission that he sometimes used physical force. \u201cThe conduct here very clearly involved violence.\u201d<\/p>\n Jurors repeatedly saw security camera footage of Combs kicking, beating and dragging his then-girlfriend Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. That assault, in a public hallway, \u201cwas just one of many violent outbursts,\u201d the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine how much worse it was behind closed doors,\u201d Slavik said.<\/p>\n Admitting to violence as part of a defense strategy is not accountability, she said \u2014 a substantial prison sentence is.<\/p>\n In a Sept. 29 letter to the court, one of Combs\u2019 supporters, a Miami-based nonprofit that helps prisoners readjust to freedom, said he had scheduled \u201cteaching engagements\u201d at a prison and various other facilities in South Florida this month, starting Monday.<\/p>\n The letter evidently anticipated he\u2019d be free to lead these entrepreneurship and life skills programs, describing the work as \u201cfollowing his release.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the height of hubris,\u201d Slavik said. Defense lawyers haven\u2019t yet had their chance to respond<\/p>\n Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs\u2019 sex crimes trial involved testimony from 34 witnesses.<\/p>\n They included Combs\u2019 ex-girlfriends Cassie<\/a> and Jane, who said he forced them into drug-fueled sex marathons<\/a>, a sex worker they knew as \u201cThe Punisher,\u201d personal assistants who said they witnessed violence, and other women who accused him of abuse. The judge can consider all trial testimony as he decides the sentence.<\/p>\n \u25b6Read more about some of the key witnesses and their testimony.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cToday is about accountability and justice. Accountability for the defendant, who committed serious federal crimes repeatedly over the course of 15 years, and justice for the public, including for the victims, whose lives have been shattered,\u201d prosecutor Christy Slavik said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,\u201d she added. \u201cHe didn\u2019t need the money. His currency was control.\u201d<\/p>\n Slavik said the prosecution\u2019s recommended 11-year, 3-month sentence \u201creflects the conduct appropriately, is consistent with other similarly situated defendants and fully respects the jury\u2019s verdict.\u201d<\/p>\n Not sentencing him to significant prison time would, in effect, be allowing him to get away with years of domestic violence, Slavik said.<\/p>\n The judge\u2019s actual sentencing decision is many hours away. But in the course of legal arguments, the judge gave a glimpse of his view of Combs\u2019 stance toward the case.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, the narrative that he and his attorneys have put forth \u2014 that this case involves nothing more than adults paying for time, not sex \u2014 is flatly inconsistent with both reality\u201d and an acceptance of responsibility, the judge said.<\/p>\n In this first phase of the sentencing, the judge is going through complex legal reasoning in response to objections that both sides have raised to the pre-sentencing report. It\u2019s very common for lawyers to raise such objections.<\/p>\nCassie\u2019s lawyer praises her courage<\/h2>\n
Combs also faces a fine and conditions after his prison time<\/h2>\n
Combs seems dejected by his sentence and apologizes again to his family<\/h2>\n
The court is adjourned after a final admonition from the judge<\/h2>\n
Judge praises the \u2018brave survivors\u2019 who came forward<\/h2>\n
Judge tells Combs to expect \u2018hard time\u2019<\/h2>\n
This wasn\u2019t just a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll lifestyle, judge says<\/h2>\n
Good works don\u2019t wash away crimes, judge says<\/h2>\n
Combs sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison<\/h2>\n
Combs says his speaking engagements aren\u2019t a scheme<\/h2>\n
\u2018I can\u2019t change the past, but I can change the future,’ Combs says to judge<\/h2>\n
Combs said he let Black people down<\/h2>\n
Combs apologizes to his children, too<\/h2>\n
Combs says, \u2018I hate myself right now\u2019<\/h2>\n
Combs says he should have known better<\/h2>\n
Combs offers multiple apologies<\/h2>\n
\n
Combs apologizes to judge for his \u2018disgusting, shameful\u2019 behavior<\/h2>\n
Combs addresses the sentencing judge<\/h2>\n
Private school founder wants Combs to talk to her students<\/h2>\n
Prosecutor wrapped up by repeating the words of a key witness<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s not just the media in the court\u2019s overflow rooms<\/h2>\n
Prosecutor suggests Combs\u2019 image isn\u2019t accurate<\/h2>\n
Defense says Combs suffers from PTSD<\/h2>\n
Nonprofit\u2019s director explains why he\u2019s planning a Combs speaking tour<\/h2>\n
Defense says the rap impresario could be a teacher if freed<\/h2>\n
Defense says Combs wasn’t a pimp<\/h2>\n
Florida chaplain offers to personally guide Combs\u2019 rehabilitation<\/h2>\n
Defense portrays Combs as a civil rights leader<\/h2>\n
Combs can use his fame for good if freed, defense says<\/h2>\n
Lawyer says Combs is haunted by his own violence<\/h2>\n
Combs had emotional reactions as his children spoke<\/h2>\n
The defense presentation has been atypical, reflecting a unique client<\/h2>\n
Judge thanks Combs\u2019 children for speaking<\/h2>\n
Some of Combs\u2019 children are addressing the court<\/h2>\n
Diddy taught a class in jail on business skills, defense says<\/h2>\n
Defense lawyer says Combs changed her life<\/h2>\n
Combs\u2019 lawyer says he\u2019s been an inspiration for Black people<\/h2>\n
Combs\u2019 lawyers say Mann Act shouldn’t apply to his sexual encounters<\/h2>\n
Prosecution is done arguing, pending a rebuttal<\/h2>\n
Another few words, about \u2018Jane\u2019<\/h2>\n
Prosecutor argues that Combs has not owned up to his crimes<\/h2>\n
Is Combs really a changed man?<\/h2>\n
Prosecutors blast Combs for apparently booking a speaking gig next week<\/h2>\n
More on the witnesses whose testimony the judge can consider<\/h2>\n
Prosecutors begin their argument for more than 11 years in prison<\/h2>\n
Judge provides a glimpse of his thinking<\/h2>\n
Defense objected to \u2018Mia\u2019 speaking, saying she lied<\/h2>\n