Cassie Ventura has been praised by her lawyer and the decide who sentenced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to 50 months in jail, regardless of the mogul being cleared of any crimes in opposition to her.
Decide Arun Subramanian handed down the sentence in a Manhattan courtroom on Friday and slapped the rapper with a superb of $500,000. Following his time in jail, the decide sentenced Combs to a different 5 years of supervised launch.
Subramanian condemned Combs for his ‘savage’ abuse of Ventura and a Jane Doe who testified, saying he was making an instance of him as a result of he brought on ‘irreparable hurt’ to his victims.
Ventura’s lawyer, Douglar Wigdor, advised the Day by day Mail that your entire trial was because of the singer’s ‘braveness to file her civil grievance in November 2023’, which triggered the prison investigation into Combs.
‘Though the jury didn’t discover Combs responsible of intercourse trafficking Cassie past an inexpensive doubt, she paved the best way for a jury to seek out him responsible of transportation to interact in prostitution,’ he mentioned.
‘By coming ahead along with her expertise, Cassie has left an indelible mark on each the leisure business and the combat for justice. We should repeat – with no reservation – that we consider and help our consumer who confirmed exemplary braveness all through this trial.
‘She displayed unquestionable power and introduced consideration to the realities of highly effective males in our orbit and the misconduct that has endured for many years with out repercussion.
‘This case proved that change is lengthy overdue, and we are going to proceed to combat on behalf of survivors.’
Cassie Ventura (pictured left) was hailed by the decide who sentenced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to 50 months in jail regardless of the mogul being cleared of any crimes in opposition to her
Combs drags ex-girlfriend Ventura in a nonetheless picture from a March 5, 2016 surveillance video taken within the hallway of a Los Angeles lodge, the place a towel-clad Combs threw Ventura to the bottom and started to kick her, which was entered as proof in New York intercourse trafficking trial
Throughout his remarks, Subramanian straight addressed each Ventura and a Jane Doe who testified.
‘I need to converse to the sturdy girls who got here ahead to inform the world their story. Ms. Ventura and Jane you’ve been by abuse most of us can’t think about,’ the decide mentioned following the sentencing.
After quoting Ventura from a press release she made through the trial, that ‘this was a horrific decade of my life’, he addressed her once more.
‘Ms. Ventura and the opposite courageous survivors I need to say we heard you. Because of them, these horrible acts have been public and [Combs] won’t ever have the ability to wash them away. You’ll ceaselessly be related to them.’
He then mentioned he was ‘proud’ of the victims ‘for coming to the court docket and telling the world what occurred.’
Subramanian promised: ‘Even if you happen to have been a sufferer you don’t need to be. Your power in coming ahead are an instance.’
He then quoted Martin Luther King by saying that they might take ‘out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.’
The decide then addressed Combs and mentioned he may search redemption regardless of his ‘violence, coercion and abuse’ of victims.
‘The issues the ladies talked about on this case, you’ve gotten the facility to assist it cease. The identical energy enabled you to harm these girls. You could have a megaphone,’ he mentioned.
Subramanian condemned Combs for his ‘savage’ abuse of Ventura and a Jane Doe who testified, saying he was making an instance of him as a result of he brought on ‘irreparable hurt’ to his victims.
The feedback concerning the producer, 55, got here alongside a superb of $500,000 as Decide Arun Subramanian condemned him for his ‘savage’ abuse of Ventura, saying he was making an instance of him as a result of he brought on ‘irreparable hurt’ to his victims
The decide mentioned he was ‘proud’ of the victims ‘for coming to the court docket and telling the world what occurred’
Diddy was not truly convicted of any offense in opposition to Ventura, however was famously filmed beating her up, with Friday’s acknowledgement of her abuse doubtless to supply some solace for the abused mannequin.
‘Deterrence requires a major sentence’ he mentioned, noting that Diddy held extra ‘freak offs’ even after he had been subjected to go looking warrants and public shaming over his abuse of Ventura.
Ventura, who was eight months pregnant along with her third little one with husband Alex Positive, took the stand to testify that the music mogul subjected her to bodily and psychological abuse spanning greater than a decade, from 2007 to 2018.
She recounted the common beatings she allegedly endured, together with claims that he used blackmail and intimidation to coerce and management her, compelled her into degrading intercourse acts, and left her with lasting medical penalties.
Ventura concluded her testimony on Could 16, simply 11 days earlier than she went into labor.
One other surprising second within the trial got here from testimony by safety guard Eddy Garcia, who described his brutal assault on Ventura within the InterContinental Lodge in Los Angeles.
Garcia recounted in vivid element how the hip-hop mogul used a counting machine to tally $100,000 in money from a paper bag to bribe him into deleting video footage from the lodge’s servers and offering a duplicate on a USB stick.
Diddy even referred to as him ‘Eddy, my angel’ for his efforts.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced on Friday for his his prostitution conviction in a shocking fall from grace for the disgraced rap mogul
Ventura was the protection’s star witness. She dated Diddy for greater than a decade and testified whereas eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Footage of him assaulting her was made public through the trial after the total unedited footage was proven to court docket
Garcia testified that the money was finally divided between himself, one other safety officer, and the lodge’s head of safety.
Mid-trial, video of a violent assault on ex-girlfriend Cassie throughout a freak-off at a Los Angeles lodge was made public.
The unedited surveillance movies have been submitted as proof on the trial and present varied angles of the brutal assault as Diddy drags the R&B singer from an elevator and menacingly paces down the hallway in a towel.
Combs shook his head slowly back and forth and the packed courtroom fell silent as jurors have been proven the 2016 lodge safety digital camera video for the primary time.
The video didn’t have sound.
Jurors watched intently on video displays at their seats within the jury field, however there have been no discernible, seen reactions.
First, prosecutors confirmed it all through. Then, they performed it because the lodge’s assistant safety director on the time, Israel Florez, described how the state of affairs unfolded.
‘I do not need to lose something and I can lose all of it,’ Florez described Diddy as saying.
Diddy’s trial earlier this yr captured nationwide consideration because the jury heard weeks of gut-wrenching testimony from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura (seen collectively), the place she alleged that she was coerced into marathon ‘freak off’ sexual performances throughout their relationship
The lodge’s assistant safety director on the time, Israel Florez, took images of the aftermath of Diddy’s savage beating of Cassie
Prosecutors then performed a special model of the footage that Florez recorded off a monitor together with his iPhone.
Combs’ lawyer then confirmed it once more as she sought to poke holes in Florez’s recollection of occasions.
The video exhibits clear footage of Cassie strolling down the corridor on the InterContinental Lodge in Century Metropolis and at one level, Combs clearly drags her throughout the ground, mid-tantrum.
As she tried to get into an elevator, he grabbed her by the again of the top and slammed her on to the bottom.
He then kicked her as she lay on the bottom immobile.
Diddy stood over her, kicked her once more, after which dragged her again to their room by the hoodie.
Late within the clip, you see what seems to be a safety guard stroll into the fray.
Florez, the safety guard in query, testified in court docket and submitted an e-mail displaying his report of the incident that features gorgeous images of the aftermath within the lodge room.
Diddy wept at a number of moments in his sentencing on Friday earlier than he was handed the jail stint
Regardless of the frigid air early this Friday morning, hordes of individuals lined up exterior the New York Metropolis courtroom desirous to study the result of Diddy’s sentencing
As for her personal testimony, Cassie claimed in a since-settled lawsuit that Diddy had paid the identical lodge $50,000 for the footage after the assault.
Two days later, the pair appeared on the crimson carpet holding arms for the premiere of The Good Match.
Diddy has been in custody since September 2024. With the 13 months he has already spent behind bars, he’s on the right track to be freed in November 2028.
The producer stood impassive and surprised because the decide handed him the sentence, staring straight forward as he was slated for abusing his victims ‘bodily, emotionally and psychologically.’
The choice got here following a tumultuous sentencing listening to that went from unhealthy to worse for Diddy, with the decide deciding initially of the day he would nonetheless think about proof from intercourse trafficking and racketeering costs that he was cleared of again in July.
A courtroom sketch artist confirmed the star mirroring the long-lasting ‘Scream’ portray through the proceedings because it appeared to daybreak on him that he was going through a prolonged stint in jail.
Prosecutors then advised the decide Diddy had arrogantly organized talking preparations for Monday in Miami, suggesting he did not consider he was going to spend any extra time behind bars in any respect.
Diddy’s lawyer Nicole Westmoreland broke down in tears in her floundering argument for a lightweight sentence, claiming he deserved leniency as a result of he was awarded Menswear Designer of the 12 months by the American Trend Council in 2004.
Ventura is pictured closely pregnant as she headed to court docket for the ultimate day of her testimony on Could 16 after 4 days of recounting the horrific abuse she skilled by the hands of Diddy
Eddy Garcia, who labored on the InterContinental Lodge in Los Angeles, advised in vivid element how Diddy, 55, used a counting machine so as to add up the cash for the bribe in 2016
‘It wasn’t nearly an award, it was about breaking limitations,’ she mentioned, as courtroom reporters mentioned she appeared to begin crying.
The sentence handed down on Friday completes the shame of the 55-year-old who was as soon as some of the highly effective males within the leisure business.
Diddy’s explosive courtroom saga got here to an in depth with at the moment’s sentencing two years after his arrest and following an eight-week trial. He was going through as much as 20 years behind bars.
His freedom ended on the evening of September 16, 2024, when he was arrested by Homeland Safety officers on the Park Hyatt lodge in midtown Manhattan.
And he is been locked up on the Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn ever since, initially charged with racketeering and intercourse trafficking.
However the jury threw out probably the most critical costs after three days of deliberation solely discovering him responsible of two costs of transporting former girlfriend Ventura and one other lady for the aim of prostitution.
Diddy didn’t testify through the trial, however he sometimes appeared keen to talk, even going as far as to interrupt the decide at one level.
Throughout that occasion, Diddy lower off Decide Arun Subramanian to inform him that he wouldn’t be testifying in direction of the tip of his trial on June 24.
One other nameless sufferer, solely referred to as ‘Jane’ testified that she felt pressured to carry out sexually with male intercourse employees whereas she dated Combs from 2021 till his arrest at a New York lodge a yr in the past
Diddy (middle) reacts after listening to his verdict in court docket on July 2. His attorneys are seen embracing and smiling, whereas he sits his head in his arms (court docket sketch)
The decide requested Diddy: ‘Have you ever mentioned whether or not it is best to or mustn’t?’
‘Sure, completely. Sure, have mentioned it,’ the rapper replied, in his first phrases to the Manhattan court docket after seven weeks of proof.
Decide Subramanian started to talk earlier than Diddy lower him off and added: ‘That’s solely my determination. It is my determination with my attorneys.’
Regardless of round 70 letters displaying help pouring in from household and associates, Diddy’s push for early launch was an uphill battle, because the decide had already turned down a $50million bail proposal and ordered him to remain in custody within the Brooklyn detention middle till Friday’s sentencing.
However Diddy escaped probably the most critical costs that might have landed him being bars for all times: racketeering and two counts of intercourse trafficking.
As an alternative, the hip-hop mogul was discovered responsible of two counts of transportation to interact in prostitution, associated to flying male escorts round for ‘Freak Offs.’
These disturbing occasions, which spanned greater than a decade, concerned Diddy paying the ‘entertainers’ lots of of {dollars} every time to have intercourse together with his girlfriends whereas he watched, directed and masturbated.
The decision shocked these watching, however Diddy appeared elated, dropping to his knees and praying in court docket as soon as his destiny was learn aloud, leaning his head in opposition to the chair he had been sitting on.
This second of reduction for Diddy got here after greater than six weeks of proof on the trial in New York which started amid fears it could expose Hollywood’s darkest secrets and techniques.
The jury of eight males and 4 girls heard from 34 witnesses together with two of Diddy’s ex-girlfriends and 6 of his former private assistants.
Prosecutors painted an image of a mob-like determine who threatened to kill folks in the event that they spoke out in opposition to him and ran a ‘prison enterprise’ that coated it up.
Combs’s newest transfer to sway Decide Subramanian got here in a four-page letter that was made public on Thursday.
In it he mentioned he had needed to ‘look within the mirror like by no means earlier than’.
‘I’ve to confess, my downfall was rooted in my selfishness,’ he wrote.
‘The scene and pictures of me assaulting Cassie play time and again in my head day by day. I actually misplaced my thoughts. I used to be useless flawed for placing my arms on the girl that I liked. I am sorry for that and at all times might be.’
He additionally confessed his time in jail had obtained him sober for the primary time in 25 years.
‘I misplaced my approach. I obtained misplaced in my journey. Misplaced within the medicine and the surplus.’
And he added: ‘There have been some days I assumed I’d be higher off useless. The previous me died in jail and a brand new model of me was reborn.
‘Jail will change you or kill you – I select to reside.’
He described jail life as being locked in a room with 25 different inmates – a far cry from the privileged life he led on the skin.
‘On this room that I share, there are not any home windows, there isn’t a pure/clear air, there isn’t a daylight and all of us reside in a single room. We eat, sleep, use the bathroom, take showers, and put together meals all in the identical room.’
However he was cautious to not lay the blame for his destiny on anybody however himself. ‘I’m not anticipating pity or sympathy, however my time at MDC has modified me ceaselessly!’ he wrote.
‘I began from nothing and labored onerous to earn every little thing I had. However due to my conduct, I’ve misplaced all of my companies. I’ve misplaced my profession. I misplaced the constitution faculties that I began and I’ve destroyed my repute and stained the repute of people who labored for me.’
On the trial, dozens of celebrities have been named however none implicated in prison wrongdoing and just one turned as much as help Diddy, Kanye West, who briefly appeared in court docket.
Till his arrest, Diddy had been one of many greatest names in R&B and hip hop and received three Grammys throughout his decades-long profession.
Among the many artists that he helped to launch was Mary J Blige, The Infamous B.I.G – Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, whom Diddy as soon as dated.
Diddy, a father of seven, additionally had an empire exterior of his music together with a cope with UK drinks large Diageo to advertise the French vodka model Ciroc.
He launched his fifth album in 2023 below the title ‘Love’ referred to as ‘The Love Album: Off the Grid’ – Diddy received his first solo nomination for it on the Grammy Awards that yr.
He additionally was named a World Icon on the MTV Awards the identical yr.
