Following the news of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentence to 50 months (over four years) in federal prison on Friday, October 3rd, attorneys for Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’ former girlfriend who dated him on-again-off-again from 2007 to 2018, released a powerful statement, per people.com.
“While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognises the impact of the serious offenses he committed,” said Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog of Wigdor LLP. “We are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms. Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.”
Ventura, who was eight months pregnant with her third child, testified during the trial, providing insight into their tumultuous relationship and alleged sex parties. The singer, who settled a sexual assault and physical abuse lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, also wrote a letter to the judge before sentencing, expressing her fear of “swift retribution” by Combs and his associates. She asked the judge to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”
Meanwhile, Combs’ defense team is already planning an appeal, arguing the lengthy sentence unjustly punishes him for conduct the jury rejected, according to abcnews.go.com.
“The jury made it very clear in their verdict that they acquitted him of the sex trafficking and the RICO counts,” said lead defense attorney Teny Geragos. “Not guilty means not guilty.”
The defense team, which had requested a significantly shorter sentence, is arguing that Judge Subramanian improperly considered conduct for which Combs was acquitted, thereby acting as a “13th juror.”
“The sentence was driven by the conduct the jury rejected,” stated attorney Alexandra Shapiro, who will lead the appeal. “The jury acquitted Mr. Combs of any coercion.”
Judge Subramanian, in announcing the sentence, emphasised the repeated nature of Combs’ crimes and violence towards former partners. “The court is not assured that if released, these crimes would not be committed again,” he said, adding that the sentence was intended to send a message that “violence against women is met with real accountability.”
The defense acknowledged that some trial evidence, including a 2016 video of Combs allegedly physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel, was indefensible. “The video was the worst thing in the case,” Shapiro admitted, but Geragos stressed, “domestic violence is not what he was convicted of.”
The defense argues that the cumulative impact of his year in prison, professional ruin, and civil lawsuits is punishment enough, and that a lengthy sentence runs counter to the goal of rehabilitation for a man who has “owned up to his violent past.”
Combs, 55, for his part, wrote a letter and apologised in court for his actions, saying he was “dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved.”
His conviction is based on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The sentencing came after a nearly two-month federal trial that acquitted the former music mogul of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
He was given credit for the year he has already served, reducing his prison term to 36 months, or three years. Judge Arun Subramanian also imposed five years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine, the maximum allowable.
