The Guardian’s Edward Helmore brings us his report from inside the courthouse:
Sean “Diddy” Combs held his head in his hands and appeared to be stunned when a judge handed down a 50-month sentence in a New York courtroom on Friday for prostitution-related offenses.
It was a sentence far less than the life term he potentially faced at the start of his sex-trafficking conspiracy trial back in May, but Combs appeared shocked by the outcome. The judgment came just minutes after Combs had pleaded with Judge Arun Subramanian that he took full “accountability and responsibility” for his actions, and stating that he was a changed man who would, if released, devote himself to his family and community.
The sentence down came with barely a noise in the courtroom. Combs’ family members and supporters had been warned by a court clerk to keep any expression of their feelings in check.
After the sentence was delivered, Combs appeared surprised to find two court marshals behind him, ready to lead him back to Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, where he has been incarcerated since his arrest 13 months ago.
Outside the courtroom, there was a palpable sense of deflation as neither prosecutors nor Combs’s defense had got the result they wanted. A trial that had heard graphic accounts of sexual abuse, which the defendant had claimed was consensual, ended in a kind of whimper. The sentence handed down – four years, two months - was 10 months less than a sentencing panel recommended and less than half of the 135 months, or 11 years, prosecutors requested.
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Photos coming in from the wires show Combs’ mother, Janice, and his children exiting the courthouse following the sentencing ruling from the judge.
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