Sean Combs asks judge for mercy: ‘I lost my way’

Sean Combs has made a plea for leniency in a letter to a federal judge before his sentencing on prostitution-related charges, writing that he had been “humbled” by the criminal case against him and would “never commit a crime again”.

“I lost my way,” Combs wrote in the letter revealed Thursday (local time) which his lawyers submitted on the eve of his sentencing hearing.

“I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess. My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core.

“This has been the hardest two years of my life, and I have no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself.”

At the conclusion of an eight-week trial this summer, Combs was acquitted of charges that he sex-trafficked two former girlfriends and ran a racketeering conspiracy. But he was convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution, charges related to drug-fuelled sex marathons involving his girlfriends and hired male escorts, which were known as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights”.

“In my life, I have made many mistakes, but I am no longer running from them,” he wrote. “I am so sorry for the hurt that I caused, but I understand that the mere words ‘I’m sorry’ will never be good enough as these words alone cannot erase the pain from the past.”

He added, “Today, I humbly ask you for another chance.”

It was the first time Combs, who is known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has made any substantial statement about his case.

In the letter, Combs apologised for physically abusing Casandra Ventura, one of the women at the centre of the government’s case, who testified about his repeated beatings over their decade-long relationship. “I literally lost my mind,” Combs wrote. “I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved.”

In her own letter to the judge, Ventura asked him to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control”. She described her relationship with Combs as a “horrific decade of my life stained by abuse, violence, forced sex and degradation” and said that she continues to fear for her safety.

Ventura and another woman, who took the stand under the pseudonym Jane, testified during the trial that they felt manipulated into repeated sexual encounters with hired men, whether because of physical abuse or financial pressure. After hearing Jane’s testimony, Combs wrote, “I realised that I hurt her. For this I am deeply sorry”.

The defense argued throughout the trial that the sex at issue was entirely consensual, and the jury did not find that Combs had coerced the women.

Combs is scheduled to appear in court Friday for his sentencing on the two prostitution-related convictions, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years for each count.

In recent submissions to the court, lawyers from both sides of the case have offered their recommended sentences for Combs. His defense team has asked for no more than 14 months — which, after accounting for the year he has already served in detention, would allow Combs to walk free before the end of 2025.

“A sentence of no more than 14 months,” his lawyers wrote in a recent filing, “is the only sentence that would be consistent with Congress’ instruction ‘to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.’”

Prosecutors, calling Combs “unrepenting” and pointing out numerous instances of his violence from the trial record, have asked the judge to sentence Combs to no less than 11 years and three months. Federal probation officials calculated that the guidelines called for a sentence of up to seven years and three months.

At the hearing, Combs is expected to “allocute,” or speak directly to the judge, which is often an opportunity for defendants to express remorse and indicate how they will improve their lives if released.