Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys argued in a new court filing that he deserves a prison sentence of no more than 14 months, which is essentially the amount of time he’s already served behind bars.
After Combs, 55, was convicted of transportation for the purposes of prostitution in July, his attorneys issued a new court filing on Tuesday, September 23, that read, “It is time for Mr. Combs to go home to his family,” per ABC News.
“Mr. Combs must be sentenced for what the jury convicted him of — interstate transportation of fully consenting adults with intent to engage in prostitution. But it would be unlawful, and a perversion of justice, for the Court to sentence him as if the jury had convicted him of sex trafficking and RICO, or to increase his sentence based on the Court’s own findings about force or coercion or racketeering,” defense attorneys said in the sentencing memorandum to the judge, according to ABC News.
While Combs – who was first arrested in September 2024 – was convicted of transportation for the purposes of prostitution, he was acquitted of more serious charges he faced including sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
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The attorneys submitted the letter ahead of Combs’ sentencing hearing on October 3.
The attorney’s memo is 380 pages and included letters from Combs’ mother, children, friends and business associates. The letter also takes aim at the apparent recommendations by prosecutors and the Probation Department that Combs receive a harsher sentence.
ABC News reported that prosecutors have not yet completed their sentencing memorandum and the probation recommendation has not been made public. However, the defense suggested they will be asking for Combs to have a sentence of five years.
“The prosecutors, for their part, have lost all perspective,” the defense said, per the outlet. “This draconian approach makes Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts seem benevolent: instead of ‘Sentence first-verdict afterwards,’ the government’s view is ‘Verdict be damned—lock him up and throw away the key.’”
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Also in the filing, defense attorneys praised Combs’ character while asking the judge for a lenient sentence. They called the music mogul “an extraordinary person who has made monumental professional and personal contributions throughout his 55 years.”
“He lost many loved ones, including his father, his best friend, Christopher Wallace — professionally known as Notorious B.I.G.—as well as the love of his life and mother of four of his children, Kim Porter, and most recently, his mentor, Andre Harrell,” the filing continued. “These events were devastating, and for decades Mr. Combs struggled with serious substance abuse issues, anger and anxiety, and other flaws that he did not properly or professionally address until his incarceration last year.”
