Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs gets 4 years in prison for case involving sex
workers, violence and ‘freak-offs’
[October 04, 2025]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, LARRY NEUMEISTER and JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced Friday to four years
and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for
sexual encounters, capping a sordid federal case that featured harrowing
testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most
influential figures in hip-hop.
Since Combs has already served a year in jail, the sentence means that
the 55-year-old could get out in about three years. While prosecutors
sought a sentence of more than 11 years, his lawyers wanted him freed
immediately and said the time behind bars has already forced his remorse
and sobriety.
Combs was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex
workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters in
multiple places and over many years. However, he was acquitted of sex
trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars
for life.
“Why did it happen so long?" U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian asked
as he handed down the sentence. “Because you had the power and the
resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught.”
Subramanian, who also fined Combs $500,000, the maximum allowed, praised
the accusers who testified at trial. They effectively spoke for
countless others who experienced abuse, the judge said: “You gave them a
voice. You stood up to power."
Combs, sitting at the defense table, looked straight ahead as the judge
spoke. He remained subdued afterward and appeared dejected, with none of
the enthusiasm and smiles he displayed while interacting with his
lawyers and family earlier in the day.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said to his family right before leaving the
courtroom.
Combs’ lawyers said they'll appeal.
“What we feel today is that the judge acted as a 13th juror, one we did
not choose, and that he second guessed the jury’s verdict,” defense
lawyer Marc Agnifilo told reporters after leaving court.
Before sentencing, Combs wept as his defense lawyers played a video
portraying his family life, career and philanthropy, and he went on to
make a plea for leniency.
“I ask your honor for a chance to be a father again,” Combs said, “a son
again ... a leader in my community again ... for a chance to get the
help that I desperately need to be a better person.” He apologized to
the people he hurt physically and mentally with his “disgusting,
shameful” actions, and said the domestic violence was a burden he would
carry for the rest of his life.
His nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured
testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted
and blackmailed them. Prosecutor Christy Slavik told the judge Friday
that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence.
“It’s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to
satisfy his own sexual gratification,” she said. “His currency was
control. And he weaponized that currency to devastating effects on the
victims.”
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In this courtroom sketch, Sean Diddy Combs breaks down and cries
during the playing of a video about his life during his sentencing
hearing in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in New
York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
 Combs was convicted under the Mann
Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any
sexual crime. Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued Friday the law
was misapplied.
During testimony at the trial, former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie”
Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sex
with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long
relationship. Jurors saw video of him dragging and beating her in a
Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday “freak-off."
“While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs," Cassie's
attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog, said in a statement,
“the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious
offenses he committed.”
Another woman, identified as “ Jane,” testified she was pressured
into sex with male workers during drug-fueled “hotel nights” while
Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
Combs' lawyers argued at trial that the government was trying to
criminalize consensual, if unconventional, sexual tastes.
The only accuser scheduled to speak Friday, a former assistant known
as “Mia,” withdrew after defense objections; Slavik accused Combs'
attorneys of “bullying” the woman. She has accused Combs of raping
her in 2010 and asked the judge in a letter for a sentence that
reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses.”
Six of Combs’ seven children addressed the judge, pleading for mercy
for their father. One daughter, D’Lila Combs, said she feared losing
her father after the death of her mother, Kim Porter, in 2018.
“Please, your honor, please,” D’Lila said through tears, “give our
family the chance to heal together, to rebuild, to change, to move
forward, not as a headline, but as human beings.”
Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed, echoing
scenes from Combs’ trial.
Sade Bess, a Combs fan from Brooklyn, left the court's overflow
observation room looking both sad and relieved.
“It’s devastating to see a pioneer of the Black community’s legacy
nearly diminished,” she said. “But the judge showed mercy by giving
him a second chance, while still honoring the victims.”
___
Associated Press writers Liseberth Guillaume in New York and Dave
Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
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