Defense tells judge Sean 'Diddy' Combs has served enough time behind
bars
[September 23, 2025]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs urged a New
York federal judge Monday to sentence him early next month to no more
than 14 months in prison for his conviction on two prostitution-related
charges, meaning he'd go free almost immediately if the judge agreed.
The lawyers made their arguments in a written submission to Judge Arun
Subramanian, who has already rejected a proposed $50 million bail
package, signaling that he doesn't believe the Grammy-winning artist is
close to being released.
“Mr. Combs’s celebrity status in the realms of music, fashion, spirits,
media, and finance has been shattered and Mr. Combs’s legacy has been
destroyed,” the lawyers wrote, saying their client has been punished
enough.
The submission provided new information about what life behind bars for
nearly 13 months has been like for Combs, what's happened to his
businesses and other interests and explains why he turned down a
plea-deal offer from prosecutors prior to his trial.
Combs will learn his sentencing fate on Oct. 3
Combs faces an Oct. 3 sentencing after his July conviction by a
Manhattan jury on two Mann Act charges that outlaw interstate commerce
related to prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10
years in prison.
The Bad Boy Records founder was exonerated on more serious racketeering
conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that would have required a
minimum of 15 years in prison and the possibility of a life sentence.
In their submission, Combs' lawyers argued that a jury sent a loud
message to the judge by exonerating him of the most serious charges.
“Put simply, the jury has spoken. Its verdict represents an ‘affirmative
indication of innocence,’” the lawyers said.
“He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America
— yet has made the most of that punishment. It is time for Mr. Combs to
go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make
the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life,” they added.
Prosecutors, who will submit their recommendations prior to the Oct. 3
sentencing, have already said they’ll urge Combs stay imprisoned
substantially longer than the four to five years they originally
thought.
Defense lawyers, though, wrote in their submission Monday that
prosecutors “have lost all perspective.”
Lawyers say Combs's career and reputation are ruined
“Mr. Combs’s career and reputation have been destroyed,” they wrote.
“His life outside of jail has been systematically dismantled.”
Among other things, they noted that he had to let go over 100 employees
from his businesses and many of them have been unable to get new jobs
because of their past association with Combs.
His seven children, they said, have faced “devastating consequences,”
including lost business opportunities in acting, television, fashion and
concerts, with some of them being included in some of the nearly 100
civil lawsuits filed against Combs since his arrest.
The lawyers also noted that Combs and his family were set to star in a
Hulu show about their lives, but the show was cancelled once the
allegations against him became public.
Combs was removed from the boards at three charter schools he created in
Harlem, the Bronx and Connecticut and was stripped of an honorary
doctorate degree from Howard University, which plans to return his prior
donations, they said.
Inmate approached Combs with a shiv, lawyers say
Meanwhile, Combs's life in prison has been harrowing at times, even as
it has allowed him to become sober for the first time in 25 years, his
lawyers said.
On one occasion, another inmate approached Combs with a shiv, accusing
Combs of sitting on a chair that the inmate wanted to sit on, before
Combs defused the situation and calmed the man and his makeshift weapon
down, the lawyers said.
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Sean Combs arrives at the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry
Icons at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, in
Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)
 They said he has been under constant
suicide watch, meaning every two hours he must present his
identification card to guards to show he is alive and well and is
awakened from sleep in a brightly lighted cell by a guard to ensure
he is well.
He also has limited access to clean water, leaving him to heat the
water that he drinks to ensure it won't make him sick and he must
sleep within two feet of other inmates in a dorm-style room
containing a bathroom and no door, the lawyers wrote.
“Mr. Combs has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt
sunlight on his skin, often walking with a limp due to a painful
knee injury that requires surgery,” they said. And the food, they
added, sometimes contains maggots.
Lawyers say Combs had no choice to face trial after plea offer
Prior to trial, the lawyers said, prosecutors offered Combs a plea
deal that would have recommended a prison sentence of at least 25
years and required him to plead guilty to crimes of which he was
acquitted.
They portrayed their client as a changed man, who had realized that
his overuse of drugs, including some prescribed by doctors, had
contributed to violent acts he participated in.
"Without minimizing Mr. Combs’s conduct, this is in many ways a
‘sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll’ story," they said. "Mr. Combs had
severe substance abuse problems throughout the entirety of the
offense conduct and participated in a high-octane celebrity
lifestyle.”
The music maven's trial featured lengthy testimony from two former
girlfriends of Combs who said they felt forced to participate in
drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers as Combs watched and
sometimes filmed the dayslong encounters.
R&B singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura testified that she
participated in hundreds of the meetups that were referred to as
“freak-offs” while she was his most frequent girlfriend from 2007 to
2018.
Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” said
she also felt pressured to perform sexually with male sex workers
while she dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest at a New York hotel
a year ago.
Lawyers say a sober Combs looks to a new future unlike his past
There was also extensive testimony during the trial about Combs
beating his girlfriends and using violence and the fears of it to
control those around him.
Defense lawyers at trial conceded there was domestic abuse but said
the charges brought by prosecutors were not proven.
While he was once so depressed in jail that “there were days when he
was unable to get out of his bed or even talk to the psychology
department,” his lawyers said he looks forward to the future.
They said he has begun teaching other inmates essential skills in
business management, entrepreneurship and personal development.
The lawyers wrote that the education program has become “one of the
most impactful and important endeavors of his life” and he hopes to
expand it to state-run facilities once he is released.
“He is a humbled man who understands that the most important things
in life are his devotion to and quality time with his family and his
contributions for the benefit of others,” they said.
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