Sean “Diddy” Combs faces sentencing Friday in a sordid criminal case that could keep him locked up for years. The hip-hop mogul was convicted in July of flying people around the country for sexual encounters, including his girlfriends and male sex workers. A jury acquitted Combs, 55, of more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have put him away for life.
On the eve of his sentencing, Combs wrote U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian asking for mercy and proclaiming himself to be “reborn” after realizing that he was “broken to my core.” Combs will be sentenced under the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport someone across state lines for the purpose of prostitution or other illegal sex acts. Prosecutors urged the judge to reject leniency, saying witnesses fear for their safety if he is freed.
Prosecutors say he should spend more than 11 years in prison for his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs’ lawyers want him freed now, saying the long sentence sought by prosecutors is “wildly out of proportion” to the crime.
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A key voice for the prosecution has been silenced
The most outspoken and prominent voice among six prosecutors at Combs’ trial won’t be heard at his sentencing. Maurene Comey was fired from her position as an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan two weeks after the jury returned its verdict.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is outside court during the Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
She is the daughter of former FBI director James Comey. She told colleagues in a note afterward that “fear is the tool of a tyrant” and that her firing without reason should fuel “a fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power.”
Then she sued the U.S. government in mid-September, saying her firing was for political reasons and was unconstitutional. James Comey was fired as FBI director by President Donald Trump in 2017. The lawsuit noted he has since written a memoir critical of Trump and has publicly criticized Trump and his administration.
Both sides have tried to persuade the judge
In a court filing, Combs’ lawyers argued the conduct for which he was convicted involved “threesomes where fully competent adult men and women voluntarily crossed state lines and had consensual sex with each other, and the defendant made no money from the conduct.”
Prosecutors, citing trial evidence, say Combs used coercion and violence, including domestic abuse, in committing his crimes.
Sean Diddy’Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, second from left, listen as witness Cassie Ventura, far right, answers questions from assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson, center, with Judge Arun Subramanian presiding in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Combs will “not be punished for any crimes of which he was acquitted, of course, but punishment for his crimes of conviction must take into account the manner in which he committed them,” prosecutors wrote.
Combs’ lawyers wrote that the government’s view is, “Verdict be damned — lock him up and throw away the key.”
Who is Judge Subramanian?
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is a Columbia Law School graduate and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and was appointed a federal judge by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Before becoming a judge, he worked in private practice, handling primarily commercial and bankruptcy matters as a partner at the prestigious law firm Susman Godfrey LLP.
A Pittsburgh native, he presided over Combs’ trial and recently denied the hip-hop mogul’s request to have his conviction overturned.
The video could backfire on Combs
At the time Combs was involved in the activities captured in the video, prosecutors say he was beating women, plying them with drugs and paying male sex workers to engage in sex parties he called “freak offs.”
The video doesn’t mention Combs’ criminal case or the remorse he expressed Thursday in a letter to Subramanian. The judge could see the video as a transparent attempt to rehabilitate Combs’ image and downplay his crimes.
Combs’ lawyers argue he should be sentenced to no more than 14 months in prison, which would free him almost immediately since he’s already been in jail for more than a year. Prosecutors want a sentence of no less than 11 years and 3 months.
A preview of the video defense will show in court
Combs’ lawyers have released an 11-minute video they plan to play in court as they argue for leniency.
The short film features clips from home videos and other footage of Combs’ pre-arrest life, including scenes of him playing with his children, running in the New York City Marathon and coaching youth football.
The video chronicles Combs’ business successes, philanthropy and touches on some of his sorrows, such as the death of his longtime girlfriend Kim Porter. It shows Combs speaking about young people, his family and God, and features others speaking positively about him.
Judge has lots to consider in sentencing Combs
Subramanian will be weighing a lot more than what’s said in court on Friday.
Leading up to the hearing, prosecutors and defense lawyers submitted lengthy arguments detailing what they think the penalty should be.
Then there are federal sentencing guidelines, which probation officials say suggest a penalty of around 5 years and 10 months to 7 years and 3 months.
Subramanian has also received letters — from some of Combs’ accusers and former employees, who say he should not receive leniency, and from character witnesses who support him and say he should.
Federal sentencing guidelines are suggestions, based on a variety of factors. They are meant to promote transparency and uniformity in sentencing across the federal judiciary and to prevent wide disparities in punishment for the same crimes.
Combs won’t have to wear prison clothes to court
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, right, turns around and looks at the audience during jury selection at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
The judge has granted a defense request to allow Combs to wear normal, non-jail clothes at his sentencing.
He will be permitted to have one button-down shirt, one pair of pants, one sweater and one pair of shoes without laces to wear, Subramanian said.
The sentencing “holds significant importance for Mr. Combs,” wrote his lawyer, Teny Geragos. Combs wants to appear “in the most dignified and respectful fashion possible.”
Combs was permitted to wear non-jail attire at his trial, but not at a hearing last week where Subramanian heard arguments on the defense’s since-rejected bid to have his conviction overturned. In that instance, the judge said his lawyers waited too long to ask that he be allowed normal clothing.
Combs, 55, has been locked up at a federal jail in Brooklyn, the Metropolitan Detention Center, since his arrest a year ago.
The right to speak before getting sentenced is well established
According to the American Bar Association, addressing the court at sentencing — formally known as the right of allocution — gives a defendant a chance “to express remorse, and explain personal circumstances” that a judge might consider in deciding on a punishment.
In a 1961 ruling enshrining the right, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote that judges should address defendants directly and leave “no room for doubt that the defendant has been issued a personal invitation to speak prior to sentencing.”
In addition, Combs’ defense team has said that at least four of his lawyers will speak on his behalf and that they plan to play an 11-minute video in court.
Combs will speak in court during his sentencing
His lawyer, Teny Geragos, says the hip-hop mogul plans to speak in court before he is sentenced, exercising a right afforded to all defendants at this stage in a case.
Combs didn’t testify at his trial and spoke only briefly in court when the judge questioned him to make sure he was making the decision not to testify on his own.
“I’m doing great, your honor,” Combs said in that exchange, and volunteered a compliment to the judge, saying: “I want to tell you thank you, you’re doing an excellent job.”
Combs is being sentenced on prostitution-related charges
Combs’ trial ended in a mixed verdict with convictions on two prostitution-related counts and acquittals on the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
The prostitution-related counts each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for flying people around the country, including girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a violation of the federal Mann Act.
Combs’ acquittals on the other charges spared him the possibility of a life sentence.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is set to be sentenced and faces the possibility of years in prison
Combs faces sentencing Friday in a sordid criminal case that could keep him locked up for years.
The hip-hop mogul was convicted in July of flying people around the country for sexual encounters, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, in violation of the federal Mann Act.
A jury acquitted Combs, 55, of more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have put him away for life.
Prosecutors say he should spend more than 11 years in prison for his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs’ lawyers want him freed now, saying the long sentence sought by prosecutors is “wildly out of proportion” to the crime.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who will decide the sentence, has signaled that Combs is unlikely to be freed soon. He twice rejected bail for the rapper, who has been jailed at a federal detention center in Brooklyn since his arrest a year ago.
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