Sean Combs is expected to be sentenced tomorrow, as the mogul faces punishment on the two convictions he received in a New York court back in July, on charges of transportation for the purposes of prostitution. (Combs previously lost a motion this week to get the charges—each of which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison—thrown out outright.) Having exhausted those avenues to get out in front of a potentially crippling sentence—and with any kind of pardon up to the whims of a very mercurial mind—the musician and entrepreneur has now fallen back on that last resort of convicts everywhere: A very nice, very sad letter written to the judge.
Said epistle, addressed to Judge Arun Subramanian, has now also been made public (per CNN), allowing us legal looky-loos to see Combs in full contrition mode. That includes opening with how incredibly sorry he was for committing domestic violence against former partner Cassie Ventura, one of the only aspects of his life that Combs’ attorneys didn’t try to dispute during the trial, on account of it all being on tape. In the letter, Combs writes,
I have had to look in the mirror like never before. My pain became my teacher. My sadness was my motivator. I have to admit, my downfall was rooted in my selfishness. The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily. I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be. My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry. The remorse, the sorrow, the regret, the disappointment, the shame. I honestly feel sorry for something that I couldn’t forgive someone else for: if they put their hands on one of my daughters. This is why it is so hard for me to forgive myself. It is like a deep wound that leaves an ugly scar.
Elsewhere, Combs—who’s been in prison since last September, and has had bail denied him by Subramanian—writes about how brutal prison life is, and how he often fears for his life. (While also emphasizing that a class he runs for business-minded inmates, apparently called Free Game, has brought together “Bloods, Crips, MS-13s, Trinitarios and 18th Streets, in one room working together,” and has apparently cut down on violence in his unit considerably.) He also repeatedly emphasizes that he is the primary caregiver for his mother, and for several of his children, and that “The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you—I choose to live.”
Combs’ attorneys have requested a 14-month sentence, which would mean he’d basically spend one more month in prison before being released; prosecutors, meanwhile, are calling for more than 11 years. Given that Subramanian freshly denied Combs bail during the sentencing period, citing his history of domestic violence, we’re not sure how much a politely worded letter might end up moving the needle here, but we’ll know for sure tomorrow.
