Berliner Tageblatt - Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentencing hearing underway

Combs was expected to address the federal court in New York at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge pleading for mercy and saying he had "lost my way."

Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator the prospect of life in prison.

But the man who was once the toast of entertainment's elite could still serve significant jail time.

The two prostitution-related counts each carry a maximum penalty of a decade in prison.

Prosecutors are urging Judge Arun Subramanian to sentence Combs to at least 11 years, calling him "unrepentant" and a public threat.

Combs's lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

Judges must consider federal sentencing guidelines, but ultimately have broad discretion in determining punishment.

Combs's mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

In his plea to the judge, Combs apologized for his conduct, saying he was "scared to death" to be away from his family and vowing he "will never commit a crime again."

"I lost my way," he wrote. "I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess."

Combs's former girlfriend Casandra Ventura asked the judge in a letter to consider "the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control."

- 'Humbled and broken' -

Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called "freak-offs": sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

"The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016," Ventura wrote.

"People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows," she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks "on a regular, everyday basis."

Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of "retribution" from Combs if he is released.

The defense didn't deny Combs's sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

They also didn't deny Combs's years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees -- but they said it didn't meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

Jurors took their side.

The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

He said his time in prison has left him "reborn."

"I have been humbled and broken to my core," Combs wrote.

C.Kovalenko--BTB