NEW YORK — 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, 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.
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U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who will decide the sentence, has twice denied bail and signaled Combs is unlikely to be freed from federal custody soon. On Friday, the judge said that while Combs was acquitted of certain charges, the verdict doesn’t absolve him of underlying conduct, such as violence and coercion.
Prosecutors said the focus of Friday’s sentencing was accountability for Combs and justice for the public.
FILE – In this courtroom sketch, Sean “Diddy” Combs reacts after he was convicted of prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life, July 2, 2025, in Manhattan federal court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)
Elizabeth Williams / AP
“It’s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,” Prosecutor Christy Slavik said. “He didn’t need the money. His currency was control.”
Prosecutors also blasted Combs for, according to them, having booked a speaking gig in Miami next week — apparently assuming he’d be free to do it. “That is the height of hubris,” Slavik said.
As the hearing began, prosecutors said the only Combs accuser scheduled to speak in person backed out after defense objections.
The woman, a former personal assistant who testified under the pseudonym “Mia,” accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and has urged the judge to impose a sentence reflecting “the ongoing danger my abuser poses to me, and to others.”
His lawyers say Combs will address the court, and they plan to show an 11-minute video highlighting his ’ family life, career and philanthropy. The judge confirmed Combs’ children and a minister will also be allowed to speak.
People wait outside to enter Manhattan federal court for the sentencing of Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AP
Combs entered the packed courtroom through a side door escorted by deputy U.S. marshals and wearing a light-colored sweater, button-down shirt and dark pants. He hugged his lawyers and greeted his family and supporters.
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, photographers swarmed as lawyers and family members arrived, echoing scenes from Combs’ nearly two-month trial, which featured testimony from women who described being beaten, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed by Combs.
Former girlfriend and R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura told jurors he ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. The jury was repeatedly shown video of Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday “freak-off.”
A woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” said she was subjected to violence and felt obligated to perform sexually with male sex workers at drug-fueled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
To support their racketeering case, prosecutors also brought on witnesses who testified about other violent acts. One of Cassie’s friends said Combs dangled her from a 17th floor balcony. The rapper Kid Cudi testified Combs broke into his home after learning he was dating Cassie.
Although jurors acquitted Combs of racketeering, Subramanian can still consider that testimony for sentencing. He is also weighing letters by Combs and some of his accusers.
In his letter Thursday, Combs told the judge, “The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn,” promising he would never commit another crime.
Cassie, in her own letter, described him as an abuser who “will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”
Combs’ lawyers say the sexual encounters were consensual and that jail has spurred his sobriety and remorse. They contend he has already been punished enough. At a hearing last week, Combs told his mother and children that he is “getting closer to going home.”
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER, The Associated Press
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
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