Prosecutors call for 11-year jail sentence for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Prosecutors call for 11-year jail sentence for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | Ents & Arts News

Federal prosecutors in New York are urging a judge to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than 11 years in prison.

Following the hip-hop mogul’s conviction on prostitution-related charges, they also want him to be fined $500,000 (£372,000), according to court filings.

Last week, defence lawyers urged a 14-month sentence. Due to time served, that would enable him to walk free almost immediately – following his arrest in September last year.

But he could, in theory, face up to 20 years in jail after being found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Judge Arun Subramanian, a US district judge, is due to sentence Combs in Manhattan on Friday.

During his trial, prosecutors said Combs coerced two of his former girlfriends to take part in what were described as “freak offs”.

He was found guilty of transporting male prostitutes across state lines to take part in those events.

Both women testified that Combs physically attacked them and threatened to cut off financial support if they refused to take part.

However, while jurors believed Combs broke the law over using sex workers, they did not find the sexual encounters involving the women were non-consensual, which is what prosecutors had argued.

Combs was cleared of the more serious charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

In a written legal submission, his defence team has detailed “inhumane” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.

They said the food sometimes contains maggots, that the rapper is routinely subjected to violence, and that he has “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months”.

They also said his “career and reputation have been destroyed”.

His legal team said Combs had been “adequately punished” already, was sober “for the first time in 25 years”, and had helped other inmates by creating an educational programme on business management and entrepreneurship.

Source link