US prosecutors seek over 11 years in prison for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
NEW YORK: US prosecutors have urged a judge to hand hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs more than 11 years in prison after his conviction on prostitution-related charges.
Combs, 55, faces up to 20 years behind bars following a July 2 guilty verdict on two counts of transporting male prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sexual performances with his girlfriends. He was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges, which carried potential life sentences.
PROSECUTORS CITE ABUSE, POWER IMBALANCE
In a court filing, Manhattan prosecutors asked for a 135-month sentence, saying evidence showed Combs physically abused his girlfriends and plied them with drugs.
“The defendant tries to recast decades of abuse as simply the function of mutually toxic relationships,” they wrote. “But there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised.”
Combs’ lawyers have asked for a 14-month sentence, arguing he should not be punished for abuse allegations tied to charges on which jurors acquitted him. If granted, he could be freed by year’s end with credit for time served at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his September 2024 arrest.
FORMER GIRLFRIENDS TESTIFY
Two former girlfriends testified during trial that Combs coerced them into so-called “Freak Offs” and threatened to withdraw financial support if they resisted.
R&B singer Casandra Ventura said in a statement that Combs used violence and drugs to trap her into sexual encounters starting at age 19.
“Sex acts became my full-time job, used as the only way to stay in his good graces,” Ventura wrote. “His power over me eroded my independence and sense of self until I felt I had no choice but to submit.”
Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday in Manhattan federal court.
