Lawyers for Sean Combs made a plea for leniency ahead of his Oct. 3 sentencing on prostitution charges, portraying the music mogul as a reformed domestic abuser who was largely vindicated at trial.
In court papers, filed late on Monday, his lawyers argued that after a jury acquitted Mr. Combs of the most serious charges brought against him, his case warrants no more than 14 months in prison, a far lighter sentence than the probation department’s recommendation of a maximum of seven-and-a-quarter years.
Mr. Combs has already spent more than a year in a Brooklyn jail and the defense lawyers’ recommendation, if accepted by the judge, would mean their client would be freed less than two months after sentencing.
“Mr. Combs has already seen how being arrested and convicted can destroy his reputation and lead to terrible collateral consequences for his businesses,” his lawyers wrote, “and he recognizes the consequences his actions have had for himself and his family.”
After an eight-week trial at Federal District Court in Manhattan, a jury convicted Mr. Combs this past summer of violating the Mann Act, which makes it a federal offense to transport people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. He was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that carried the possibility of a life sentence.
The two counts on which he was convicted relate to travel arrangements for two former girlfriends — Casandra Ventura and a woman known by the pseudonym Jane — and hired men, who performed sexually for Mr. Combs in drug-fueled sexual encounters known as “freak-offs” and “hotel nights.” Each count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Sean Combs’s Lawyers Urge Judge to Free Him Before the End of 2025 appeared first on New York Times.
