Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to just four years in prison — far less than a decade the prosecutors had pushed for, following a disturbing trial that revealed the music mogul’s darkest secrets. Diddy has been behind bars since September 2024.
Counting the 13 months he’s already spent behind bars, he’s likely to walk free in November 2028. Combs hung his head on Friday as Judge Arun Subramanian handed down a 50-month prison sentence in a Manhattan courtroom, while his weeping family looked on from the gallery. The judge also ordered him to pay a $500,000 fine, denouncing him for what he called the “savage” abuse of his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
Nothing Compared to His Crimes
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Subramanian, at the end of an emotional hearing that stretched nearly six hours, scolded Combs for exploiting his power to harm women — but in the end, chose to give the Bad Boy Records founder an opportunity to turn his life around.
“You abused the power and control that you had over the lives of women you professed to love dearly,” Subramanian told Combs before heading down the sentence of 50 months, with five years supervised release and a $500,000 fine.
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“You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically,” he said. “Why did it happen so long? Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught.
“A meaningful sentence is needed to protect the public from further crimes.”
Combs’ sentence — tied to prostitution charges involving his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and an influencer known as “Jane” — turned out to be lighter than the six to seven years recommended under federal guidelines.
It was also far more lenient than the 11-year term prosecutors pushed for, saying the “unrepentant” mogul had left his victims terrified. On the other hand, his defense team had urged the judge to impose just a 14-month, time-served sentence for the prostitution convictions.
The sentencing took place in the same Manhattan courtroom where, on July 2, a jury found Combs guilty on two counts of transporting people for prostitution. But jurors cleared him of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering — crimes that could have locked him up for life.
That stunning verdict came after two months of disturbing testimony, which exposed Combs’ dark private world of violence and demeaning “freak-off” sex parties.
Asking for Forgiveness
Before learning his fate, Combs — wearing a wrinkled oatmeal-colored sweater and black reading glasses — rose to deliver a long statement. He apologized to Ventura and “Jane,” but much of his 12-minute speech focused on himself. He pleaded with the judge for “another chance” and insisted he had changed.
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“My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will forever have to carry,” he said.
“I’m not this larger than life person, I’m just a human being. I’ve been trying my best. I got lost in excess, I got lost in my ego.”
Combs also thanked his six children, who had tearfully begged the judge to show their father mercy. During the hearing, his lawyers even played an awkward 11-minute video portraying the disgraced mogul as a role model for kids.
After hearing the sentence, Combs wiped his eyes with his left hand as he glanced toward his family, then walked calmly out a side door, headed back to his cell at the troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His legal team said they plan to push the judge soon on where he should actually serve his time.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Cassie Ventura — Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog — welcomed the prison sentence.
“While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed,” the lawyers said in a statement.
“We are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms. Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.”
Ventura chose not to speak in court during the sentencing. Instead, she submitted a powerful victim impact statement, describing how Combs brutally abused her and forced her to endure his twisted desires for years. In her letter, she made it clear that she does not believe he has changed.
“I know that who he was to me—the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker—is who he is as a human,” she wrote. “He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”
