Prosecutors urged a federal judge Friday to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than a decade behind bars for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, saying the music mogul had shown a lack of remorse.

‎“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the New York court at Diddy’s sentencing hearing.

‎“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said in arguing for an 11-year prison sentence for the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator. ” “His respect for the law is just lip service.”

‎Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

‎Slavik said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris.”

‎Judge Arun Subramanian for his part said federal sentencing guidelines suggested a prison term of between six and seven years although he has the latitude to impose more or less.

‎The judge also noted an apparent lack of remorse, saying Combs has “challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly.”

‎Combs was expected to address the court at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge on Thursday pleading for mercy and saying he had “lost my way.”

‎Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing him the prospect of life in prison.

‎Combs’s mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

‎In his plea to the judge, Combs apologised for his conduct, saying he was “scared to death” to be away from his family and vowing he “will never commit a crime again.”

‎“I lost my way,” he wrote. “I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

‎Combs’s former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, asked the judge in a letter of her own to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

‎– ‘Humbled and broken’ –

‎Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

‎She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

‎Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak-offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

‎“The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016,” Ventura wrote.

‎“People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows,” she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”

‎Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of “retribution” from Combs if he is released.

‎The defense didn’t deny Combs’s sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

‎They also didn’t deny Combs’s years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees — but they said it didn’t meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

‎Jurors took their side.

‎The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

‎Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

‎He said his time in prison has left him “reborn.”

‎“I have been humbled and broken to my core,” Combs wrote.

‎AFP