Family members of disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded for a lighter sentence in letters released Monday, calling his crimes “mistakes.”
“This separation for the past year, while Sean has been incarcerated has been extremely difficult and painful for me and his children,” Janice Combs, the mogul’s 84-year-old mother, wrote in a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian.
“I would like to be able to spend the last few years of my life with my son, Sean. Unfortunately, my son has made some terrible mistakes in his life, which I know he recognizes,” she continued.
Several of the hip-hop artist’s associates and family members also wrote letters to the judge ahead of his sentencing hearing on Oct. 3.
The 55-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records faced public scrutiny when his ex, Cassie Ventura, accused him of rape, coercion and physical abuse in a bombshell 2023 lawsuit. Federal agents eventually arrested him last year and accused him of using his wealth and influence to engage in a number of sex crimes, including sex trafficking and kidnapping.
He avoided a life sentence after the jury found him not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
However, Sean Combs is now facing a maximum 20-year sentence in federal prison on two felony counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection to Ventura and a woman referred to as “Jane.”
Sean Combs’ attorneys pleaded in a sentencing memo reviewed by Bharti Post for their client to serve a lesser 14-month sentence with supervised release, as well as mandatory drug treatment, therapy and group counseling.
“In the past two years, Mr. Combs’s career and reputation have been destroyed,” his attorneys argued in the memo. “He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America — yet has made the most of that punishment. It is time for Mr. Combs to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life.”
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez via Getty Images
In her letter, Combs’ mother wrote that she “will never excuse any wrong doing committed by” her “loving and caring son.” She highlighted his achievements and wrote about the traumatic life events he experienced during his childhood. She also mentioned the death of model Kim Porter, a woman with whom he shares four children.
“I beg your honor to let him help them through the healing processes from the loss of their mother and the pain and sleepless nights they have had since Sean’s incarceration,” Janice Combs wrote.
Diddy’s sister, Keisha Combs, also said her brother “made mistakes — serious ones.”
“His struggles with addiction clouded his judgment and led him away from his true path: a champion in uplifting our black and brown children and communities,” she wrote.
Justin Combs, the mogul’s 31-year-old son — who was accused over the summer of luring a woman to a gang rape — told the judge his father “is not perfect.”
“I know he has made mistakes, and I do not deny that,” the son wrote. “But I refuse to let those mistakes erase the truth of who he is: a loving, present father who has instilled in me and my siblings the importance of respect, of honoring women, and of standing tall in the face of adversity.”
Ventura’s attorneys declined to comment on the family’s letters when reached by Bharti Post.
