Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentencing live updates: Combs gets 50 months in prison

Defense attorneys began their push for a light sentence by underscoring that Sean Combs lacked a financial motive for transporting male escorts across state lines.

Combs hired escorts to have sex with girlfriends so he could watch, often while masturbating, and film.

Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued the law Combs was convicted of violating, the Mann Act, most often involves brothels, sex trafficking rings, pimps and vulnerable victims like minors or undocumented immigrants.

“They’re trying to equate Sean Combs to a pimp. He is not,” Driscoll said. “He did not commit this Mann Act offense conduct in any way for any type of personal gain.”

“For 75 years, long before Sean Combs was even born, the Department of Justice has said, ‘As a general rule prosecution should not be instituted in non-commercial cases,’” Driscoll said. “Profit motive is essential.”

Instead, the defense compared Combs to a John and argued clients of prostitutes often receive minimal sentences.

Driscoll is the first of four defense attorneys expected to speak on Combs’ behalf. Nicole Westmoreland is up next.

Prosecutors accused Sean Combs of downplaying his alleged violence, despite his lawyers openly conceding during trial that he was violent with two of his exes.

"He owned that violence only insofar as it benefited him," prosecutor Christy Slavik said.

"The violence in this case was uncontested," Slavik said. "The evidence of what the defendant did was overwhelming."

Slavik emphasized what she said was "life-altering" violence that Combs’ girlfriends Cassie Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym "Jane" testified at trial, as well as Combs’ allegedly abusive behavior towards his employees.

"He hit her, he kicked her, he threw her into walls, he stomped on her face, he dragged her by the hair," Slavik said of Ventura, who she said was "treated like an animal."

"Once is bad enough," she said. "Dozens and dozens of times is something the public must be defended from."

"This is not a person who has accepted responsibility," she said.

Slavik also pushed back against the defense argument that Combs’ relationships with "Jane" and Ventura were mutually harmful.

"The court heard Cassie engaging in a 'freak-off' while he was overdosing on drugs. What is mutual about that?" Slavik said. "There is nothing mutual about that."

Even if the judge removed the alleged violence, Slavik argued that a significant sentence would still be justified. Prosecutors argued that the most comparable case for Combs’ conduct is a 2023 conviction of a movie producer who ran an international prostitution business. The defendant in that case received a five-year prison sentence.

"Even prostitution cases that don’t involve violence get significant sentences in this district," she said.

A federal prosecutor urged Judge Arun Subramanian to impose a harsh sentence to punish Sean Combs not only for transporting male escorts across state lines for prostitution but also for “staggering” violence.

“The defense has tried to turn this into a minor violation in a sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle,” the prosecutor, Christy Slavik, said. “It’s clear: This isn’t just a case about 'freak offs' or hotel nights. It’s not just a case about sex. It’s a case about real victims who suffered real harm at the hands of the defendant.”

Slavik said Combs “did horrible things” to Cassie Ventura and to “Jane” who were in “abusive” relationships with him.

“This is not just a case about transportation for prostitution. It’s a case about transportation for prostitution and violence,” Slavik said.

Slavik cast doubt on Combs’ sincerity when he wrote to the judge that he accepted “responsibility and accountability” for his actions, noting a character letter received that said Combs has booked speaking engagements in Miami for next week.

“That is the opposite of demonstrating respect for the law,” Slavik said.

Prosecutors have urged the judge to impose a sentence of 11 years in prison. Judge Subramanian noted sentencing guidelines called for a sentence between 5 and 7 years. The judge retains discretion to vary the sentence up or down.

Judge Arun Subramanian said he does not believe Sean Combs is taking full responsibility for his prostitution-related conduct.

"Combs has challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly," Subramanian said. He said the music mogul has not demonstrated remorse for the crimes for which he was convicted.

Combs was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, and guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with another ex-girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym "Jane."

Subramanian also said he will consider some of the conduct for which Combs was acquitted when he imposes his sentence.

Combs was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the most serious charge. He was also found not guilty of both charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.

"The court can consider acquitted conduct for any reason other than changing the guidelines range," the judge said.

While the acquitted counts cannot be considered to determine Combs’ possible sentencing range, Subramanian said the testimony and evidence related to those counts are relevant context to demonstrate the force Combs used to carry out the prostitution-related crimes.

"There is no doubt that this evidence counts as coercion," he added. "There were threats of bodily harm in this case."

Subramanian also said that he plans to consider as victims in this case the seven escorts who Combs said he paid for entertainment. The judge said Combs was clearly the organizer of “freak-offs” and hotel nights and paid for the escorts, and should be responsible for the conduct.

"The definition of victim is expansive," he said.

Earlier in the hearing, prosecutors sought to push back on defense lawyers’ attempt to have multiple people testify about Combs’ character during the sentencing, arguing it distracts from the victims in the case.

"The defense is trying to drown out the voice of victims in favor of character witnesses," a prosecutor argued.

Subramanian will allow Combs’ children and pastor to speak.