Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
- Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of at least 11 years for Sean “Diddy” Combs.
- Combs was convicted of prostitution-related counts, but acquitted of more serious charges.
- Combs intends to speak at his sentencing, his lawyers revealed Friday night.
Federal prosecutors want a Manhattan judge to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to at least 11 years in prison for his conviction on two prostitution-related charges.
In a court filing on Tuesday, prosecutors said the hip-hop mogul’s “crimes of conviction are serious” and that Combs “engaged in violence and put others in fear.”
Prosecutors said Combs should be sentenced to no less than 135 months behind bars.
“A substantial term of imprisonment is also needed in this case because the defendant is unrepentant,” prosecutors wrote in the court filing.
“The defendant tries to recast decades of abuse as simply the function of mutually toxic relationships,” prosecutors said. “But there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised.”
They also blasted Combs’ long shot bid to be released at his coming October 3 sentencing with a punishment of time served.
“When comparing the actual conduct of defendants who received the sentence Combs requests, it is clear that the unduly lenient sentence sought by Combs would actually create, rather than avoid, a sentencing disparity,” prosecutors argued.
Combs was convicted in July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — the so-called Mann Act — for causing two girlfriends and multiple male escorts to cross state lines to participate in “freak offs,” dayslong sex performances for which the men were paid.
The conviction followed a more than six-week trial where the jury heard about the rapper’s violent side and was shown graphic footage of his drug-fueled sex encounters.
The music tycoon, once worth close to a billion dollars, dodged a possible sentence of life behind bars when the jury acquitted him of the top sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
The prosecution’s recommended sentence for Combs is just that — a recommendation. US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversaw Combs’ trial, will make the final decision.
Each Mann Act conviction carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, though lawyers not involved in Combs’ case expect any sentence to be much lower than that.
Attorneys for Combs made a plea to the judge for leniency in a lengthy pre-sentencing submission filed on September 22.
“He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America—yet has made the most of that punishment,” Combs’ lawyers wrote. “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.”
A prison sentence of no more than 14 months, his attorneys said, “is the only reasonable sentence.”
Combs has been behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest and indictment more than a year ago.
His lawyers added in the court filing that while locked up, Combs launched a six-week business course called “Free Game with Diddy” to “spread his knowledge to his fellow inmates.”
The judge did not immediately rule on Combs’ request that he be allowed to wear civilian clothes, not a jail uniform, at his sentencing.
“He wishes to appear before the Court, address Your Honor, and allocute in the most dignified and respectful fashion possible,” they wrote Friday night, tipping their hand on Combs’ intention of speaking on his own behalf.
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