Diddy says he's 'broken to my core' in sentencing letter to judge

(NewsNation) — In his final bid for freedom, Sean “Diddy” Combs told a federal judge that he is “broken to his core” and will “never commit a crime again” if he’s granted release from prison. 

Combs submitted a personal letter to Judge Arun Subramanian the night before he was due to be sentenced.

“I want to apologize and say how sincerely sorry I am for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused others by my conduct,”  he wrote. “This has been the hardest 2 years of my life, and I have no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself,” he wrote. 

He was convicted in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act. His attorneys have asked for a 14 month sentence while prosecutors say he should be behind bars for at least 11 years. 

In his letter, Combs said domestic violence will be a “heavy burden” he will carry “forever” referring to his former partner singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. 

He directly addressed the hotel surveillance video from 2016 that showed him violently attacking, kicking and shoving Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel that was played during his criminal trial.

“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily. I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved,” he wrote. 

Combs was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking. The music producer has been in a New York City prison for the last 13 months since he was arrested at a hotel in Manhattan last year.

While expressing remorse, he also told Subramanian that he was a new man in the wake of the criminal trial and jail stay. 

“Jail is designed to break you mentally, physically and spiritually. Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you—I choose to live,” he stated. 

He told the judge that he utilized his time in jail helping and teaching others and that the experience has “changed me forever.” 

“I humbly ask you for another chance—another chance to be a better father, another chance to be a better son, another chance to be a better leader in my community, and another chance to live a better life. I am writing this not to gain any sympathy or pity, this experience is simply the truth of my existence and has changed my life forever and I will never commit a crime again,” he said.

Prosecutor Christy Slavik slammed Combs’ letter saying that he portrayed himself as the victim of his own bad behavior.

“Even in his submission last night, his remorse was qualified,” she told Subramanian during the sentencing hearing Friday. 

Combs saying he will carry a heavy burden is “like he’s the victim in this scenario,” Slavik said. 

“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” she said.