Federal prosecutors are pushing for disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs to spend at least 11 years in prison when he is sentenced later this week on prostitution-related charges.
In a scathing pre-sentencing recommendation filed Tuesday, prosecutors argued the 55-year-old is “unrepentant” and urged the court to impose a severe sentence to reflect his “decades of unchecked violence” and the fact that his victims are still living in fear.
Combs is due to be sentenced on Friday after a salacious trial this summer led to his conviction on two counts of arranging for male sex workers to travel across state lines to participate in drug-fueled “freak-offs” with his girlfriends. He was acquitted of the more serious racketeering and sex trafficking charges, which spared him a potential life sentence. Combs currently faces up to 20 years behind bars.
The prosecution’s filing stressed that the sentence must take into account the manner in which the crimes were committed, regardless of the acquittals, noting that the charges alone have “warranted sentences over ten years in multiple cases.”
The document called on the judge to focus squarely on the victims, stating: “He is not the victim… The Court should focus on the very real effects that the defendant’s conduct had on the lives of the actual victims, his victims.”
The prosecution’s filing included powerful letters from accusers detailing the psychological and emotional damage they suffered. Crucially, his former girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie Ventura described her continuing trauma, including nightmares and flashbacks.
Ventura, who was nine months pregnant when she testified at trial, wrote that the fear for her safety and that of her family is her “reality.” “My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality,” Ventura wrote, adding, “I have in fact moved my family out of the New York area and am keeping as private and quiet as I possibly can because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial.”
In contrast, Combs’ defense lawyers previously urged the judge to impose a lenient 14-month sentence, which would essentially allow the rap icon to be sprung from the Brooklyn federal lockup on time served since his September 2024 arrest.
They argued that evidence of abuse detailed by his former girlfriends at trial should be disregarded due to his acquittals on the coercion charges.
The defense characterized the time served as punishment enough: “In the past two years, Mr. Combs’ career and reputation have been destroyed. He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America—yet has made the most of that punishment… It is time for Mr. Combs to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life.”
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