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Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the L.A. Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles on May 30, 2018. Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than 11 years in prison, citing testimony from women and former employees who said they still fear for their safety if the music mogul is released.
In a Sept. 30 court filing, prosecutors recommended a sentence of at least 11 years and three months for Combs, 55, who was convicted in July on two Mann Act charges related to interstate prostitution. The sentencing is scheduled for Friday in Manhattan federal court.
Survivors Plead for Justice
Among the letters submitted to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian were statements from Combs’s longtime ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, her parents, and four others. Ventura, who testified for four days at trial, wrote that Combs began abusing her when she was 19.
Ventura said Combs “used violence, threats, substances, and control over my career to trap me in over a decade of abuse.” She added that she has since relocated her family out of New York, writing, “My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality.”
Another former girlfriend, who testified under the name “Jane,” described years of drug-fueled sexual encounters with male sex workers that Combs arranged and filmed. A former personal assistant, “Mia,” said Combs raped her in 2010 and urged the court to impose a sentence that reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses to me, and to others.”
Other former employees also recounted their experiences.
Capricorn Clark wrote that Combs forced her at gunpoint to accompany him when he broke into rapper Kid Cudi’s home in 2011. She told the court that time in prison may be “the only punishment he will recognize.” Former chef Jourdan-Cha’Taun Atkinson, who was subpoenaed but not called to testify, said she feared retaliation after Combs quickly learned she had been contacted by federal agents. She called him “a very dangerous, and spiteful man. With a long memory, and a panache for payback.”
Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash wrote that Combs’s “behavior has left a long trail of victims.”
“This is not the story of one or two isolated incidents. This is the story of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people whose lives have been scarred by his unchecked power and brutality,” Nash wrote.
Defense Seeks 14 Months
Defense attorneys have asked for a sentence of no more than 14 months, which would likely mean Combs’s immediate release, as he has already spent nearly 13 months in custody at a Brooklyn federal lockup. They argued that Combs has changed behind bars, noting he has been under suicide watch and has avoided violence even when threatened by another inmate.
Prosecutors countered that Combs’s fame and wealth should not shield him from accountability. Ventura, in her letter, said, “If there is one thing I have learned from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be safe.”
Judge Subramanian will issue the sentence on Friday.
Haika Mrema is a freelance entertainment reporter for The Epoch Times. She is an experienced writer and has covered entertainment and higher-education content for platforms such as Campus Reform and Media Research Center. She holds a B.B.A. from Baylor University where she majored in marketing.
