Hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years in prison. Combs was also fined US$500,000 (A$757,000) and will be subject to five years of supervised release when his sentence is served.
The sentence was handed down in New York after an eleventh hour plea for leniency from Combs’s defence attorney Nicole Westmoreland. “Mr Combs is not larger than life, he’s just a human being,” Westmoreland said. “He’s just a man and he’s made some mistakes. He has flaws like we all do. Your honour, he gets it, plain and simple.”
An impression of Sean “Diddy” Combs in court during his trial in July.
Despite that, Judge Arun Subramanian said the court had to consider all of Combs’s history. “A history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case, which shows that you abused the power and control over the lives of women who you professed to love,” he said.
In sentencing Combs to 50 months in prison, Subramanian said he was inclined to give Combs a “meaningful” sentence, but that the 11-year sentence sought by the prosecution was “not reasonable”.
In July, Combs, 55, was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, related to his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura and a victim identified only as “Jane”. Two other charges, racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, were dismissed.
Each count of transportation carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; had Combs received the maximum penalty to be served consecutively, he could have been jailed for up to 20 years.
Combs appeared in the Federal District Court in Manhattan for sentencing, supported by members of his family, including his mother, Janice Combs. When Combs entered the courtroom, he quietly waved to family members and hugged his attorneys.
Before sentencing, Combs addressed the court saying that he had lost the opportunity to raise his children, and take care of his mother. “Most of all, I lost my self-respect,” he said. “I hate myself right now. I’ve been stripped down to nothing.” Addressing his mother directly, Combs said: “You taught me better.”
“I want your honour to know that, given a chance, people can change,” Combs added. “I beg your honour for mercy. I’ve got nobody to blame but myself. I know that I will never put my hands on another person again. These are not excuses. I can’t change the past, but I can change the future. No matter what anyone says, I know I’m truly sorry for it all.”
Unusually, given America’s predilection for televised celebrity trials, Combs’s sentencing hearing was not broadcast, and no photography or video was permitted. Judge Subramanian placed a similar restriction on the trial, earlier this year.
Despite that, there was a lively exchange of final arguments over the fate of the disgraced rapper. Combs’s defence attorney Brian Steel made a passionate plea to Judge Subramanian to consider “the great trauma in Sean’s life,” referring to the death of Combs’s father, and “a ferocious drug addiction that got out of hand.”
Combs’s children also testified at the sentencing hearing, with son Justin Combs saying: “My father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget.”
Prosecutor Christy Slavik described the closing chapter of the trial as a case of “accountability and justice”.
“Accountability for the defendant, who committed serious federal crimes repeatedly over the course of 15 years, and justice for the public, including the victims whose lives have been shattered by the defendant’s acts of abuse and exploitation,” Slavik said.
Prosecutors argued that Combs should face a penalty that reflects “the substantial psychological, emotional, and physical damage he has inflicted” on his victims.
“The defendant tries to recast decades of abuse as simply the function of mutually toxic relationships, but there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised,” the prosecution argued.
“Time and again, he has shown that he is concerned only with his own power and control. Only a significant term of imprisonment, meted out in a substantial number of years, can effectively deter him and show future victims that their abusers will be held accountable, no matter their wealth or fame.”
One of Combs’s victims, former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, also submitted a letter to Judge Subramanian, describing him as “the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker … [this] is who he is as a human.”
In pre-sentencing submissions, Combs’ lawyers said that the impact of the trial had already “destroy[ed] his reputation and [led] to terrible collateral consequences for his businesses. Mr Combs’s celebrity status in the realms of music, fashion, spirits, media and finance has been shattered and Mr Combs’s legacy has been destroyed,” they said.
Combs also wrote a letter himself to Judge Subramanian, asking for “a second chance”.
“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily,” Combs wrote, referring to a video of him assaulting Ventura in a hotel.
That clip became one of the most affecting pieces of evidence in Combs’s trial, replayed on TV networks around the world.
“I literally lost my mind,” Combs wrote. “I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be.”
“I realise that this trial has received a tremendous amount of global press and your honour may be inclined to make an example out of me,” Combs wrote. “I would ask your honour to make me an example of what a person can do if afforded a second chance.”
Prosecutor Christy Slavik used her closing remarks to directly address Combs’s letter, saying “his remorse was qualified”, and that it made him sound “like he’s the victim in this scenario.”
“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” Slavik said.
Source: wa.today.com.au
