By Charles Pemu 
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to 50 months (just over four years) in prison on Friday after being convicted on two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. The penalty, imposed by Judge Arun Subramanian, was significantly lower than the 11-year sentence prosecutors had pushed for.
Combs’s legal team had sought a lighter penalty of 14 months, arguing the 55-year-old hip-hop star had already served enough time while in custody in Brooklyn.
Emotional Courtroom Hearing
During the daylong sentencing hearing, Combs addressed the court, tearfully asking for leniency. “I am truly sorry,” he stated, pleading with the judge for “another chance” and mercy.
However, prosecutors, led by Christy Slavik, argued that Combs’s remorse was “qualified” and insufficient, noting that he had already booked speaking engagements in Miami in anticipation of a lighter sentence, calling it “the height of hubris.”
In his defense, attorney Nicole Westmoreland described Combs as “an inspiration” to the Black community and a social justice crusader. She insisted he was remorseful, arguing that “It’s of no benefit to anyone to warehouse him in a prison.”
Cassie’s Searing Victim Statement
The most searing testimony came from his former girlfriend, singer Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, who submitted a detailed letter to the court.
Ventura urged the judge to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.” She described enduring years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, including being coerced into “freak-offs”—sexual marathons Combs orchestrated and sometimes filmed.
Ventura reminded the court that they had “watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016.” She concluded that she continues to suffer nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”
Combs’s six adult children also pleaded for leniency, with his eldest son, Quincy Brown, calling him “a changed man.”
The sentencing followed a jury decision in July that acquitted Combs of the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering