He was found guilty of transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters
Hip-hop icon Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to a prison term of four years and two months after he was found guilty under the Mann Act, reported the Associated Press.
Manhattan-based US District Judge Arun Subramanian handed down the sentence on Friday. Combs’ stint in a Brooklyn jail, which began in September 2024, will be counted in the term. The Grammy winner was also slapped with the maximum fine of US$500,000.
The Mann Act is an anti-prostitution law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for sexual crime. Combs escaped a life sentence after being acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Prosecutors had sought to imprison Combs for over 11 years, while his lawyers argued for him to be released immediately on the grounds that the hip-hop star had expressed remorse while in jail. Combs had asked for leniency before the sentencing.
“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,” said Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ defense lawyer, in a statement published by AP News.
Defense attorney Jason Driscoll also said the Mann Act had been misapplied in Combs’ case. Combs’ team claimed that the government was seeking to criminalize unconventional but consensual sexual encounters.
During Combs’ trial, which lasted almost two months, women testified about Combs threatening them, sexually assaulting them, and blackmailing them. Jurors were also shown video of Combs physically assaulting ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik called for a significant prison term in the case “about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,” per a statement published by AP News.
Under the federal system, Combs will have no chance of parole. Ventura’s attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog said in a statement published by AP News that the sentence “recognizes the impact of the serious offenses” Combs committed.
