Summary: Combs’ sentencing hearing so far
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing is continuing after a brief lunch break, as a judge considers the convicted hip-hop mogul’s punishment.
Here’s a brief summary of the sentencing hearing so far. The court is set to reconvene at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
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In July, the 55-year-old Combs was convicted of flying people around the country for sexual encounters, including his girlfriends and male sex workers. He was acquitted by a jury of more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
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Prosecutors say he should spend more than 11 years in prison for his conviction for “transportation to engage in prostitution,” the AP reports. And Combs’ attorneys want him freed now. The prosecutors argued this morning that Combs deserved the 11 years to also deter more people from committing such crimes. They also argued that he had not owned up to his crimes and instead chose to portray himself as a victim in a letter addressed to the judge on Thursday night.
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Combs’ attorneys have attempted to portray him as a changed man deserving leniency from the judge. One of his attorneys, Nicole Westmoreland, even teared up during the sentencing hearing when discussing Combs’ accomplishments as a Black entrepreneur.
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Six of his children took the stand, with two of his daughters breaking down in tears as they read their prepared statements. Combs, himself, also cried during the hearing.
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Before the lunch break, Combs’ attorneys played an 11-minute-long video, where Combs is seen with his children, praying and engaging in philanthropic work.
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Attorneys also emphasized that Combs taught classes in jail and gave advice to other inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a looming federal prison in the Sunset Park neighborhood.
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Three more defense lawyers – and even Combs himself – are expected to speak in court after returning from lunch.
Key events
Steel please for lighter sentence, highlighting violence in prison
Brian Steel, one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys is pleading with a judge for a lighter sentence, while discussing conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he is currently held.
“He lives with 25 people, in one room. There’s a TV area, a supposed bed. There are drugs there. He has not taken drugs,” Steel reportedly said to the judge, according to Inner City Press. “There is violence. The water is polluted. You have to boil it. There are screams day and night.”
The Metropolitan Detention Center is located in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. It is a looming federal prison, where many high-profile detainees are being held. Among them are Luigi Mangione, Mexican drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero.
An attorney for Sean “Diddy” Combs said in court that he “would have pled guilty to the Mann Act” charges, but that prosecutors did not offer that deal.
Violating the Mann Act is what Combs was eventually convicted of earlier this year. The law prohibits transporting individuals across state lines for sexual activity.
Combs attorney Brian Steel speaks of mogul’s ‘untreated trauma’ and ‘ferocious’ addiction
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorney, Brian Steel, is addressing the court, breaking down the past trauma Combs experienced.
“I sit here with tears in my eyes because I can’t believe we’re here,” Steel said, according to CNN. “Please consider the following two reasons I believe we’re here: untreated trauma — great trauma in Sean’s life — and a ferocious drug addiction that got out of hand.”
Steel also discussed Combs’ father’s killing and Combs’ history of drug addiction.
The sentencing hearing for Sean “Diddy” Combs is back in session, with federal judge Arun Subramanian back on the bench.
Summary: Combs’ sentencing hearing so far
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing is continuing after a brief lunch break, as a judge considers the convicted hip-hop mogul’s punishment.
Here’s a brief summary of the sentencing hearing so far. The court is set to reconvene at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
-
In July, the 55-year-old Combs was convicted of flying people around the country for sexual encounters, including his girlfriends and male sex workers. He was acquitted by a jury of more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
-
Prosecutors say he should spend more than 11 years in prison for his conviction for “transportation to engage in prostitution,” the AP reports. And Combs’ attorneys want him freed now. The prosecutors argued this morning that Combs deserved the 11 years to also deter more people from committing such crimes. They also argued that he had not owned up to his crimes and instead chose to portray himself as a victim in a letter addressed to the judge on Thursday night.
-
Combs’ attorneys have attempted to portray him as a changed man deserving leniency from the judge. One of his attorneys, Nicole Westmoreland, even teared up during the sentencing hearing when discussing Combs’ accomplishments as a Black entrepreneur.
-
Six of his children took the stand, with two of his daughters breaking down in tears as they read their prepared statements. Combs, himself, also cried during the hearing.
-
Before the lunch break, Combs’ attorneys played an 11-minute-long video, where Combs is seen with his children, praying and engaging in philanthropic work.
-
Attorneys also emphasized that Combs taught classes in jail and gave advice to other inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a looming federal prison in the Sunset Park neighborhood.
-
Three more defense lawyers – and even Combs himself – are expected to speak in court after returning from lunch.
Meanwhile, outside of the courthouse, an exotic dancer who testified at the trial is promoting a self-help book that he wrote.
Sharay Hayes who went by the stage name “The Punisher” testified at the trial about being paid to have sex with Combs’ girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
“It’s been a crazy couple of months for me,” he said, reported the Associated Press.
Hayes said he believes that the judge should sentence Diddy to the time he’s already served in jail.
Cassie has asked for a tougher sentence. She told the court she was manipulated into participating in sexual encounters with other men, and that Combs frequently beat her.
The sentencing hearing is now breaking for lunch until 2:15PM ET, when more of Combs’ lawyers and supporters are set to speak.
The lunch break follows the defense playing an approximately 11 minute-long video where Combs is seen with his children, praying and engaging in philanthropic work, according to the Associated Press.
Star’s children tell court their father is a ‘changed man’
Combs’ children are now addressing the court.
Quincy Brown, Combs’ eldest son, and his brother, Justin Brown, are currently speaking in support of their father alongside their four other siblings.
Quincy said that he and his siblings love their father unconditionally, and that Combs has since become a “changed man” who has learned his lesson, reported NBC News.
Justin added that he hopes his father will be granted the opportunity “to right this wrong and to be the man he truly is.” He added that Combs is now drug-free.
Chance Combs, his eldest daughter, told the judge that while her father was incarcerated, she has seen changes in him that “feel real and lasting,” according to the New York Times.
“When we talk he speaks with a clear mind and sense of purpose that I didn’t always hear before,” she said.
Combs was seen crying and wiping away tears as his children spoke.
Defense lawyer in tears as she tells court Combs helped and inspired many people
Another defense lawyer, Nicole Westmoreland, reportedly broke down in tears while discussing Combs’ importance to the Black community stemming from his entrepreneurial work in fashion, liquor, TV and music, in addition to owning a record label.
Westmoreland described the “help and inspiration” Combs has given others throughout his life, and the commitment that Combs made while he’s been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, reported the New York Times.
“Mr. Combs starting his own record label as a Black, young male back then was almost kind of jokeable. But he had the audacity to do it anyway,” Westmoreland said.
“This changed the industry, and it changed the culture, but more importantly, it changed countless individuals’ lives, because what people recognized is that if Mr. Combs could do it, then they could do it too,” she said, according to CNN.
“Mr. Combs wearing all of those hats,” she added, “sent a message that you can do it. You don’t just have to be signed to a label, you can be the label.”
Defense attorney Jason Driscoll has begun his statement.
Multiple defense attorneys are expected to speak on Combs’ behalf. Driscoll said he will be addressing sentencing disparities.
Driscoll began by recapping his client’s convictions under the Mann Act on the lowest end of the spectrum of severity. The Mann Act is often used to prosecute defendants who profited from commercial sex operations, exploited minors or transported vulnerable victims.
“Sean Combs did not make a single cent off his Mann Act conduct,” he said, according to CNN. “That aggravating factor is completely off the table in this case.”
The prosecutors have acknowledged that Combs did not profit from the prostitution in this case, Driscoll said.
