Sean “Diddy” Combs, the influential 55-year-old hip-hop mogul, is set to learn his fate today as he faces sentencing in a federal criminal case that could see him imprisoned for more than a decade. Combs was convicted in July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, a violation of the federal Mann Act, for flying people — including his girlfriends and male sex workers — across the country for sexual encounters.
Combs, who has been jailed at a federal detention center in Brooklyn since his arrest a year ago, appeared in the packed Manhattan courtroom Friday morning.
Escorted by deputy U.S. marshals, he entered through a side door, wearing a light-colored sweater over a button-down shirt and dark dress pants. Before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian took the bench, Combs embraced his legal team and greeted his family and supporters.
Disagreement Over Prison Time
The central dispute in the sentencing hearing revolves around the length of the prison term. Federal prosecutors are urging Judge Subramanian to sentence Combs to more than 11 years behind bars, arguing that the sentence reflects the severity of the crime.
However, Combs’s defense team is fighting to have him freed immediately, labeling the long sentence sought by prosecutors as “wildly out of proportion” to the crime for which he was convicted. In a related filing, his lawyers had previously asked the judge for a much shorter 14-month sentence.
Judge Subramanian, who will ultimately decide the sentence, has given signals that Combs is unlikely to be freed anytime soon, having twice rejected bail for the rapper since his arrest.
Jury Acquittal on Major Charges
While the transportation conviction carries significant time, the sentencing comes after a nearly two-month trial where the jury acquitted Combs of the more severe charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, which could have resulted in a life sentence.
The trial itself was characterized by highly damaging testimony from women who detailed harrowing allegations against Combs, describing being beaten, threatened, sexually assaulted, and blackmailed by the hip-hop star.
This story will be updated.
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