Federal prosecutors ask judge to sentence 'unrepentant' Sean 'Diddy' Combs to 11 years in prison, court filings say

Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to sentence Sean "Diddy" Combs to 11½ years behind bars for his conviction on prostitution-related charges, arguing that the rap entrepreneur has no remorse for his crimes.

A Manhattan jury acquitted the hip hop mogul in July of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking two former girlfriends, but found him guilty on two counts of transporting male escorts across state and international lines for the purpose of prostitution.

Each conviction carries a maximum 10-year prison term.

During the eight-week trial, former pop singer Casandra Ventura, who performed under the name Cassie, and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane told the court of psychological grooming and physical abuse at the hands of Combs. Both woman said that they participated in "freak-offs" — drug-induced, marathon sessions in which the rapper paid male dancers or escorts to have sex with them for hours, sometimes days at a time.

Video played multiple times during the trial showed Combs kicking and beating Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 when she tried to leave a freak-off.

Defense attorneys sought to diminish the severity of the conviction, arguing that the relationships were mutually toxic, but the women participated of their own volition.

In a 164-page brief filed Tuesday ahead of the Friday sentencing, federal prosecutors called Combs "unrepentant."

"Incredibly, while the defendant conceded his acts of violence and abuse throughout trial, he now argues that his victims should shoulder the blame," prosecutors said. "The defendant tries to recast decades of abuse as simply the function of mutually toxic relationships. But there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised."

Defense lawyers have asked the judge to sentence Combs to 14 months, meaning he would be released in November.

Attorneys for Combs acknowledged he had physically assaulted his girlfriends, plied them with drugs and asked them to have sex with strangers, but they argued none of his behavior amounted to a violation of federal law.

They said that prosecutors are trying to punish him for the crimes of which the jury has acquitted him.

However, authorities said federal law allows a judge to consider aggravating factors during sentencing.

In a letter to the court, Ventura urged the judge to consider "the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control."

She recalled how she began dating Combs at the age of 21 when he was 38.

"He groomed me into performing repeated sex acts with hired male sex workers during multiday 'freak-offs,’ which occurred nearly weekly," she wrote in her two-page victim impact statement. "I was forced into lingerie and heels, told exactly how to look, and plied with drugs and alcohol so he could control me 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."

An executive assistant who testified under the name "Mia"said that she had been sexually abused and raped by Combs, though he was not charged with those crimes. She also said that he was a mercurial and hard-driving boss.

"I ask you to deliver a sentence that reflects the full measure of harm that he has caused: the years of coercion, financial abuse, humiliation, physical and sexual violence, and the profound trauma that he has inflicted as a result," Mia said in her statement to the court. "I ask you to deliver a sentence that takes into account the ongoing danger my abuser poses to me, and to others. A sentence that honors the truth, the pain, and the lives that have been destroyed. A sentence that gives us hope, protection, and justice." 

Capricorn Clark, who started working for Combs’ Bad Boy Records in 2004, said that he had destroyed her career by blacklisting her in the industry after firing her in 2012.

"It's insane to me that of all the things that people heard, two counts of prostitution of men is the only thing that remains on the table," she wrote the judge. "I wanted to speak up, tell the truth, and do the right thing when I was asked to testify. But I am afraid that Women and Girls in America feel less protected than ever, watching what just happened. The lesson seems to be that we should not speak up, not call law enforcement for help, and not say anything, but instead keep our head down and try to make a way, regardless of what happens to us."

Federal probation officials have recommended Combs receive a little over 6 years in prison for his time, but federal prosecutors say that’s not enough because of the vulnerability of the victims.

U.S District Judge Arun Subramanian will sentence Combs on Friday at 10 a.m.