Judge rips into Sean Combs as he fingers down 4-year sentence for ‘freak off’ crimes: ‘You abused these women’ | EUROtoday

A federal choose sentenced Sean “Diddy” Combs to 4 years and a pair of months behind bars after the music mogul was convicted of two prostitution-related prices in a case that gripped the nation.

Diddy returned to federal courtroom Friday, three months after jurors discovered him responsible of two counts of transportation to have interaction in prostitution however acquitted him of the extra critical intercourse trafficking and racketeering conspiracy prices.

“A history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case. You abused these women. You used that abuse to get your way, freakoffs and hotel nights,” Judge Arun Subramanian scolded Combs earlier than announcing sentence.

“The evidence of the abuse is massive.The drugs may have exacerbated your erratic and violent behavior over the years. However, the court has to consider all of your history here.”

Friday’s sentencing marks the tip of a year-long high-profile drama, ranging from his September 2024 arrest and culminating in a two-month trial that highlighted Diddy’s drug habit, home abuse, and penchant for drug-fueled intercourse marathons referred to as “freak offs.”

Prosecutors had requested for the rapper to be imprisoned for no less than 135 months — over 11 years — whereas his protection crew requested for not more than 14 months behind bars.

However, early into the sentencing, Subramanian stated that he noticed no cause to deviate from the vary advisable within the pre-sentencing report, which was 70 – 87 months.

When handing down his sentence, Subramanian let Combs have it: “The court is not assured that if released, these crimes will not be committed again,” he added.

The sentencing listening to was a present, the grand finale of the legal trial. The six-hour listening to included remarks from his six grownup youngsters, 5 of his protection attorneys, a reverend, and a 15-minute video — a well-produced spotlight reel of his life. Diddy was the headliner.

He stood up, took a deep breath, and thanked the choose for giving him the possibility to talk. “One of the hardest things I’ve had to handle is to be quiet, not be able to express how sorry I am,” the 55-year-old, who hadn’t spoken at any level in his trial, started.

He apologized to Ventura and Jane and to all home violence victims, calling his actions “disgusting, shameful and sick.”

He grew emotional when he apologized to his household. He rotated to the pews to handle his mom: “Mom, I failed you as a son. I’m sorry. You taught me better. You raised me better.” His voice broke as he spoke.

His feedback echoed a letter he despatched to the choose on Thursday, through which he apologized to Ventura and the ache he induced “Jane,” one other certainly one of his ex-girlfriends who testified below a pseudonym. “I take full responsibility and accountability for my past wrongs,” he stated.

The rapper emphasised that he’s modified since his arrest, explaining that he’s mirrored on his conduct whereas serving time. “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,” he stated.

While he claims to have grown in jail — he’s now sober for the primary time in 25 years and has been instructing and mentoring fellow inmates — he has additionally misplaced quite a bit exterior of it, Diddy wrote. He misplaced the flexibility to take care of his mom or his youngsters; he misplaced his music profession and companies and “destroyed” his fame.

“Today, 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,” he instructed Subramanian.

The rapper’s six grownup youngsters every addressed the courtroom for a couple of minutes, delivering emotional pleas for mercy.

Diddy held his fingers in his head, as if signaling his coronary heart was breaking, and wiped tears from his eyes as he listened.

D’lila Combs, a daughter Diddy shares with the late mannequin Kim Porter, concluded the group’s remarks. Through tears, she stated: “We cannot watch our baby sister grow up fatherless the way we grew up motherless.” She pleaded with the choose: “Please give our family the chance to heal together…Not as a headline, but as human beings.”

The protection crew additionally performed a 15-minute video, a set of dwelling movies and media clips that served as a spotlight reel of the mogul’s life.

Several of his attorneys additionally pleaded with the choose for a lenient sentence. Nicole Westmoreland teared up as she spoke concerning the impression of his companies and charity work. “He’s dedicated so much to breaking the chains of systemic racism,” she stated.

She additionally talked about his six-week enterprise course that he’s been instructing fellow inmates, arguing that he’s altering the dynamics of the Metropolitan Detention Center, the place he’s been held since his arrest: “Mr. Combs can reach so many more on the outside than he can on the inside.”

“Mia,” the rapper’s former private assistant who testified below a pseudonym concerning the bodily and sexual abuse she endured throughout her eight-year tenure, had initially requested the courtroom to learn her sufferer impression assertion through the listening to. However, prosecutor Christy Slavik introduced on the listening to that “Mia” modified course for causes largely attributable to the protection crew’s letter that branded her a “liar,” which Slavik described as “bullying.”

The choose agreed that the tone of the letter was “inappropriate.”

Even and not using a stage, Diddy managed to attract a crowd. For the trial’s eight weeks, followers, influencers, and journalists lined up exterior the courthouse day after day to attempt to get a glimpse of him.

Inside, jurors — and the rapper’s mom and youngsters who steadily attended — heard the witnesses’ stunning accounts about Diddy’s home abuse, drug use, and voyeuristic sexual tendencies.

Jurors had been pressured to repeatedly watch 2016 footage from the InterContinental Hotel capturing Diddy assaulting Ventura and dragging her throughout the resort hallway after she tried to depart a “freakoff” early. Lawyers from either side additionally steadily confirmed specific clips from “Freak Offs” and graphic textual content messages.

Ventura, who took the stand whereas 9 months’ pregnant, testified about a number of different incidents of abuse, together with one which left a “permanent scar” on her eyebrow. Both she and Mia individually accused him of rape.

Several of his former workers testified about witnessing the bodily abuse. “Jane”, who dated Diddy up till his September 2024 arrest, associated a harrowing evening that left her bruised and he or she recalled feeling “disgusted” after “Freak Offs.”

In her sufferer impression assertion, Ventura requested the choose to think about “justice and accountability” when delivering his sentence, noting she nonetheless fears his “malice” and potential retribution for talking out.

She wrote: “For over a decade, Sean Combs made me feel powerless and unimportant, but my experience was real, horrific, and deserves to be considered.”

This is a breaking information story…