Diddy and his ex-girlfriend, Cassie
Cassie Ventura said she is worried for her safety and moved her family out of New York ahead of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing this week.
“I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up,” the R&B singer, who is Combs’ ex-girlfriend, wrote in a victim impact statement.
Her letter was submitted as part of the government’s sentencing recommendation for Combs, who was convicted in July on two counts of transporting for prostitution.
Prosecutors have recommended an 11-year sentence for the disgraced hip-hop mogul, while the defence seeks 14 months, which, including time served, would mean an almost immediate release.
Ms Ventura was the government’s key witness against Combs. She took the stand for four days, testifying that over the course of their 11-year relationship, Combs abused her physically and sexually, forcing her to participate in days-long, drug-fuelled sex parties called “freak-offs”.
She reiterates those allegations in the letter – her first public reflection since testifying in the trial – which she says caused her “tremendous emotional pain”.
Though the court found Combs guilty of transportation for prostitution of Ms Ventura and another ex-girlfriend, “Jane”, he was cleared on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Ms Ventura writes that the jury “failed to see” all of “the truths at hand” and that she hopes the judge would consider her fear and suffering in handing down a sentence.
“If there is one thing I have learned from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be safe,” she said. “Although I can hope for justice and accountability, I have come to not trust anything.”
The prosecution said there was precedent to give Combs a sentence of more than a decade.
“His crimes of conviction are serious and have warranted sentences over ten years in multiple cases for defendants who, like Sean Combs, engaged in violence and put others in fear,” they wrote, requesting 11 years and three months.
Combs is a changed man, defence says
Combs’ attorneys admitted from the start of the trial that the defendant domestically abused Ms Ventura and his other girlfriends, but maintained that he did not coerce them into any sexual acts.
They also asserted that Combs changed his ways while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
His career has been destroyed – he has had to fire 100 employees, and his kids have all lost opportunities since the allegations against him became public, the defence told the judge.
Fellow inmates wrote to the court that they have had a positive experience with the mogul, and that he has been teaching business classes called “Free Game with Diddy”.
“He is a humbled man who understands that the most important things in life are his devotion to and quality time with his family and his contributions for the benefit of others,” they wrote in a filing.
Ms Ventura wrote in her letter that she does not think that is the truth.
“He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is,” she said.
