Cassie speaks out

Photo Credit: Cassie Ventura by Luke Ford / CC by 2.5

Ahead of Diddy’s sentencing this week, Cassie Ventura asks the judge to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

Casandra Ventura, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former girlfriend and the star witness during his federal trial, has submitted a letter to the judge asking him to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control” in deciding his sentence on October 3.

Ventura, better known as singer Cassie, was one of seven people whose letters were part of a legal filing by prosecutors submitted to the court on Tuesday, asking Judge Arun Subramanian to grant Combs the maximum sentence of 11 years and three months.

Cassie’s testimony has been crucial to prosecutors’ assertion that Combs led a criminal enterprise that committed and covered up sex trafficking. But in July, following an eight-week trial, a jury rejected the majority of the government’s case, acquitting Combs of the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Ventura and another woman who was identified in court only as Jane Doe, were depicted by the prosecution as having been coerced into drug-fueled sexual encounters with male prostitutes, known as “freak-offs,” which formed the basis of the prostitution convictions.

“While the jury did not seem to understand or believe that I engaged in freak-offs because of the force and coercion the defendant used against me,” wrote Ventura, “I know that is the truth, and his sentence should reflect the reality of the evidence and my lived experience as a victim.”

The prostitution charges, which were brought under the federal Mann Act, a law that makes it a crime to transport people for purposes of prostitution, carry maximum sentences of 10 years for each conviction. The defense, meanwhile, has requested a sentence not exceeding 14 months. That sentence would take into account his time served, and thus would allow him to be freed before the end of the year.

Prosecutors asked the judge in their recent filing to take into account the violence and intimidation that was testified to at trial. They argue that, even though Combs was acquitted of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges, evidence of “relevant conduct” can and should be considered in deciding his fate. Further, prosecutors ask that the court impose a $500,000 fine.

“The sentence imposed on the defendant should reflect the substantial psychological, emotional, and physical damage he has inflicted,” wrote prosecutors.

At the same time, the defense has strongly objected to the possibility of the judge considering evidence related to the acquitted charges. “The court cannot use acquitted conduct in any way to enhance Mr. Combs’ sentence,” they wrote.

The government’s filing included letters from Ventura, her parents, and a former personal assistant to Combs, who testified under the name “Mia” and said she had been sexually assaulted by the mogul. Jane Doe did not submit a letter.