İçerik Haritası
American music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced Friday to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, in a sordid federal case that featured harrowing testimony and a forceful reckoning for one of the most influential figures in hip-hop.
Since Combs has already served a year in jail, the sentence means that the 55-year-old could get out in about three years.
While prosecutors sought a sentence of more than 11 years, his lawyers wanted him freed immediately and said the time behind bars had already forced his remorse and sobriety.
Friday’s sentencing comes after jurors acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges in July, charges which could have carried a life sentence.
Having spent more than a year in detention, Diddy’s defence lawyers offered an atypical presentation at the sentencing hearing that reflected the unique nature of Combs as a wealthy and philanthropic celebrity who is well-versed in shaping his image.
The defence also showed an 11-minute görüntü portraying Combs’ career, philanthropy and family life, showing him with his children or trying to inspire others, particularly children, in public settings.
Several minutes into the görüntü, Combs put a hand over half his face and began to cry, his shoulders at times heaving.
His nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed them.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik told US District Judge Arun Subramanian that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence.
“It’s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,” she said. “He didn’t need the money. His currency was in control.”
Slavik also blasted Combs for allegedly booking a Miami speaking gig next week, calling it “the height of hubris.”
Pleading for leniency
Several of Combs’ children pleaded for leniency.
“My father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget,” his son Justin said, adding jail had forced his father to give up drugs and alcohol.
His daughters, Chance and D’Lila Combs, cried as they spoke, with D’Lila saying she feared losing her father after the death of their mother, Kim Porter, in 2018. Six of Combs’ seven children addressed the judge.
“Please, your honour, please,” D’Lila Combs said, crying, “give our family the chance to heal together, to rebuild, to change, to move forward, not as a headline, but as human beings.”
Subramanian, who has twice denied bail, had previously signalled that Combs was unlikely to leave custody soon. He said acquittals did not absolve the music mogul of underlying conduct, including violence and coercion.
Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Defence attorney Jason Driscoll argued the law was misapplied. Another lawyer, Nicole Westmoreland, grew emotional, saying Combs had inspired her personally.
“Mr Combs is not larger than life. He’s a human being. And he’s made some mistakes,” Westmoreland said. “But judge, how many of us can say that we helped so many lives, countless lives?”
Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed the sidewalks, echoing scenes from Combs’ trial earlier this year.
During testimony, former girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship.
Jurors saw görüntü of him dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday “freak-off.”
Another woman, identified as “Jane,” testified she was pressured into sex with male workers during drug-fuelled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
The only accuser who was scheduled to speak on Friday, a former assistant known as “Mia,” withdrew after defence objections. She accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and asked the judge for a sentence that reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses.”
Prosecutors also introduced testimony at the trial about other alleged violence. One of Cassie’s friends said Combs dangled her from the 17th-floor balcony. Rapper Kid Cudi said Combs broke into his home after learning he was dating Cassie
In a letter to the judge on Thursday, Combs wrote: “The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn,” promising he would never commit another crime.
Cassie, in her own letter, described him as an abuser who “will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”
Quoted from Euronews.
