Convicted rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs has written a letter to the judge overseeing his criminal trial, asking for leniency during his sentencing on Friday and blaming his past behaviour on drug addiction.
In the four-page letter, he apologizes for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused and says that he has been reformed after spending 13 months in a Brooklyn jail.
The letter on Thursday comes hours ahead of his sentencing hearing at 10:00 ET (15:00 GMT) on Friday.
In July, he was found guilty of two prostitution charges and now faces up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of at least 11 years, but Combs' lawyers are asking that he be released later this month.
In his letter to Judge Arun Subramanian, Combs apologizes for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Ventura, writing: I literally lost my mind.
I'm sorry for that and always will be, he continues. My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry.
He also apologizes to an anonymous woman who testified during the trial under the name Jane and says he became lost in the drugs and the excess.
I lost my way, he wrote. My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core.
Combs' accusers have also written to the judge, describing how he wielded his power and influence to ruin their lives, expressing fears that he would seek revenge if freed. I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up, Ventura wrote.
In his letter, Combs describes teaching a class to fellow inmates on what I did to become a successful businessman, describing himself as a changed person who is now sober for the first time in 25 years. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn, he writes.
Combs goes on to ask the judge for mercy, not only for my sake, but for the sake of my children. He asked the judge to consider his seven kids and his 84-year-old mother who recently had brain surgery.
He noted that the judge might be tempted to make an example out of him and instead asks that he be made an example of what a person can do if afforded a second chance.
Prosecutors have called Combs unrepentant, arguing for a minimum sentence of 11 years. They contend that he tries to recast a lifetime of abuse as mutual toxicity in relationships, emphasizing the disparity of power in his interactions with women.
