Music mogul Diddy is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, October.
Federal prosecutors have asked that Combs be sentenced to at least 11 years and three months in prison for his convictions for transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs’ attorneys have urged Judge Arun Subramanian to sentence the former hip-hop mogul, 55, to no longer than 14 months in prison, only a few months more than the time he has already served in jail since his arrest in September 2024.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, believes that Combs, who was acquitted of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy during an eight-week trial, will most likely get a sentence between 4 and 5 years.
“I don’t think he’s getting the 11 years that the government is recommending,” he tells PEOPLE. “That is more than the statutory max for the prostitution counts.”
The prostitution related offenses carry maximum sentences of 10 years each, Rahmani says, adding that the Probation Department recommended 5 to 7 years in prison.
“If the judge was so inclined he would’ve released him on bail after the verdict,” he adds. “The fact that he kept him detained, even though he was acquitted of a more serious racketeering and sex trafficking counts, leads me to believe that he’s going to impose a sentence. Maybe not the full amount the government is asking for, but a split the baby type sentence. So that’s why I think five years ends up being in the middle.”
Rahmani says the judge can consider “other relevant conduct” when making his decision.
“We’re talking about the drugs,” he says. “We’re talking about the violence. Even though he was acquitted of running a criminal enterprise and forcing these women to have sex through coercion. Now there’s a lot of bad evidence that came out with respect to violence and drug use. So, I think the judge is going to treat this like more than just a simple prosecution case.”
In a letter ahead of his sentencing, Combs’ ex Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who alleged during trial that he abused her during their decade-long relationship, asked the judge to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”
