Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs begins 4-year prison sentence after federal sex crimes conviction

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs begins 4-year prison sentence after federal sex crimes conviction

Music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has officially begun serving his prison sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The 55-year-old rapper and entrepreneur was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison and transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His incarceration formally began on Friday following court approval of his lawyers’ request for transfer.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has listed Combs’ release date as May 8, 2028, accounting for good conduct time. The sentence stems from his July conviction, where jurors found him guilty of paying male escorts to cross state lines to engage in sexual acts with his girlfriends while he filmed and watched. However, the jury acquitted him of more serious charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering, which could have resulted in up to 20 years in prison.

During his two-month trial, prosecutors accused Combs of coercing two women — singer Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, and another woman identified as Jane — into these sexual encounters.

Both testified that Combs used threats, manipulation, and physical abuse to control them and pressured them into participating in the acts. Prosecutors described his behavior as exploitative and driven by a need for control and humiliation, while his defense maintained that the encounters were consensual and that Combs was being unfairly targeted because of his fame.

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Combs’ legal team argued for a reduced sentence of 14 months, citing his charitable work, cooperation, and declining health. The prosecution, however, pushed for over 11 years, calling him “unrepentant” and emphasizing the emotional trauma inflicted on the victims. The judge ultimately handed down a sentence of just over four years, factoring in both the severity of the crimes and time served.

Combs had already spent nearly a year in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following his arrest, which will be credited toward his sentence. Despite the conviction, his lawyers have vowed to appeal, maintaining his innocence and calling the case an “overreach of federal power.”