Prosecutors seek over 11 years in prison for Sean 'Diddy' Combs
[September 30, 2025]
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to
send Sean “Diddy” Combs to prison for over 11 years following his
conviction on prostitution-related charges, citing one of his accusers
who said she lives in fear of the music mogul's release from detention.
“His crimes of conviction are serious and have warranted sentences over
ten years in multiple cases for defendants who, like Sean Combs, engaged
in violence and put others in fear,” they wrote in a presentence
submission requesting at least 11 years and three months in prison.
They filed their sentencing recommendation shortly after midnight,
including letters from some of his accusers describing how his violence
and demands had impacted their lives.
They called Combs “unrepentant” and said Combs had conceded his acts of
violence and abuse throughout his trial but “incredibly, ... he now
argues that his victims should shoulder the blame.”
Combs, 55, has remained jailed since his July conviction on charges
related to arranging male sex workers to travel to hotels or residences
where he directed them to have sex with his girlfriends.
Combs faces sentencing Friday
The elaborate dayslong, drug-fueled sexual events were often filmed by
Combs. Defense attorneys have asked that he be sentenced to no more than
14 months in prison. Sentencing is set for Friday.
In July, Combs was convicted of two charges for violating the Mann Act,
which outlaws interstate commerce related to prostitution, for arranging
the paid sexual encounters between his girlfriends and male sex workers.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The same jury acquitted the Bad Boy Records founder of racketeering
conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have resulted in a
life sentence.
Last week, the defense submitted its presentence arguments, saying Combs
has suffered enough during his nearly 13 months behind bars that he
should be freed soon.
They wrote that he became a changed man in a Brooklyn federal lockup,
where he has been under constant suicide watch and learned to react
calmly to threats rather than violently, even when a fellow inmate
confronted him with a shiv.
They said Combs has realized that his overuse of drugs, including some
prescribed by doctors, had contributed to violent acts he participated
in.
Prosecutors say Combs is not the victim
Prosecutors said Combs was now trying to cast himself as a victim.
“He is not the victim,” they wrote. “The Court should focus on the very
real effects that the defendant’s conduct had on the lives of the actual
victims, his victims.”
At trial, two of Combs' former girlfriends testified that they felt
forced to participate in the drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex
workers as Combs watched and sometimes filmed.
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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)
 R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura
described being beaten by Combs when she displeased him during their
decadelong relationship. Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the
pseudonym “Jane,” said she felt pressured to perform sexually with
male sex workers. She testified that an enraged Combs once put her
in a chokehold and punched her in the face.
In a letter accompanying the prosecutors' submission, Cassie wrote
that she testified while nine months pregnant during Combs' trial
“in front of a packed courtroom about the most traumatic and
horrifying chapter in my life. I testified that from age nineteen,
Sean Combs used violence, threats, substances, and control over my
career to trap me in over a decade of abuse.”
Cassie says she still suffers from nightmares
Cassie wrote that Combs controlled her like a puppet.
“These events were degrading and disgusting, leaving me with
infections, illnesses, and days of physical and emotional exhaustion
before he demanded it all again. Sex acts became my full-time job,
used as the only way to stay in his good graces,” she said.
Cassie said she still has nightmares and flashbacks on an everyday
basis and requires psychological care to cope.
“My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and
my family is my reality. I have in fact moved my family out of the
New York area and am keeping as private and quiet as I possibly can
because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will
be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his
abuse at trial,” Cassie said.
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been
sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.
In an indictment, prosecutors asserted that Combs used his fame,
wealth and violence to force and manipulate Cassie and Jane,
now-ex-girlfriends, into the sexual performances he called
“freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
After Combs was convicted, Judge Arun Subramanian immediately
refused a defense request to grant him bail.
He denied it again in August as he rejected Combs’ $50 million bail
proposal, saying the hip hop impresario hadn’t proven that he did
not pose a flight risk or danger, nor shown an “exceptional
circumstance” after a conviction that otherwise requires detention.
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