Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison after being found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Judge Arun Subramanian handed down the sentence on Friday after the disgraced music mogul was convicted back in July. While he was found guilty on the prostitution counts he was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by a New York jury.
“You had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught,” Judge Subramanian told the rapper. “You paid for and organized these acts. You were no John. You were responsible for that, even if your currency was sexual desires and not money.”
As Judge Subramanian continued, he noted he wasn’t entirely convinced that the crimes wouldn’t happen again. He added, “I’m counting on you to make the most of your second chance.”
Judge Subramanian also took a moment to praise the victims who came forward,— including Cassie Ventura — and shared their “horrific stories.”
Since Combs has already served about a year in prison already, he’ll likely be released within three years of the sentencing. The judge also fined Combs $500,000 and ordered five years of supervised release upon the mogul’s exit from prison.
The split verdict followed an eight-week trial where 34 witnesses gave testimony in regards to the rapper’s five federal charges — one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs had pled not guilty to all of the charges against him.
In a court filing earlier this month, Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, argued for the rapper to receive a prison sentence of no more than 14 months — which would have essentially amounted to time served. However, in an 189-page submission to the judge, prosecutors said they wanted Diddy to serve more than 11 years in prison. Both convictions carried a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
On Tuesday, Combs was denied his motions for a new trial or an acquittal. The Bad Boy Records founder’s legal team previously moved for an acquittal under Rule 29 — which argued there was insufficient evidence and misinterpretation of the term “prostitution” in his two convictions of violating the Mann Act — Judge Subramanian ruled he was not persuaded by the arguments made in the motion. He also denied counsel’s attempt at a new trial after they claimed jury prejudice from evidence on acquitted counts, including sex trafficking and racketeering.
Then on Thursday, less than a day before the sentencing the hip-hop mogul urged a federal judge to give him a second chance.
“I humbly ask you for another chance—another chance to be a better father, another chance to be a better son, another chance to be a better leader in my community, and another chance to live a better life,” Combs wrote in a four-page letter to the U.S. District judge that was obtained by TheWrap. “This experience has changed my life forever and I will never commit a crime again.”
Combs added that he’s been “clean and sober for the first time in 25 years” and described mentoring fellow inmates at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since his September 2024 arrest. He told the court he hoped to return home to care for his seven children and his 84-year-old mother.
He expressed a similar sentiment in court on Friday, when he begged the judge: “I know the prosecution wants you to make an example of me. I just want you to think of making an example of what a person can do if they get another chance. If you give me another chance, I won’t let you down.”
Diddy was arrested in New York City last September, months after his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided earlier in 2024.
