Diddy’s Mother Pleads for Mercy as Sentencing Nears: 'I Want to Spend My Last Years With My Son'

Sean “Diddy” Combs kisses the hand of his mother, Janice Combs, in a 2019 portrait shared on his official Facebook page. Now 84, she has written to a federal judge ahead of his sentencing, asking for mercy and saying, “I would like to spend the last few years of my life with my son, Sean.” (Photo via Diddy/Facebook)

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mother does not shy away from the truth. “He has made some terrible mistakes in his life, which I know he recognizes,” Janice Combs wrote in a letter to the judge. But at 84, with her health fading, she begged for leniency so she could see her son outside of a prison cell. “On December 21, I will be 85 years old … I would like to spend the last few years of my life with my son, Sean,” she wrote. “This separation for the past year while Sean has been incarcerated has been excruciatingly difficult and painful for me and his children.”

The plea was among more than 60 letters filed as part of Combs’ sentencing submission ahead of his Oct. 3 hearing in Manhattan federal court. Convicted in July of two counts of transporting people for prostitution, he was acquitted of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. He has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest in September 2024, after a judge denied multiple bail requests, including a $50 million bond proposal backed by his Miami mansion.

His six children wrote with equal urgency. Justin Combs acknowledged his father’s failings but insisted, “I refuse to let those mistakes erase the truth of who he is: a loving, present father who has instilled in me and my siblings the importance of respect, of honoring women, and of standing tall in the face of adversity.” His brother Christian was more direct: “Please let him out! This is driving me crazy and my family crazy! I’m asking for grace and compassion to the family … please let my dad out of jail!”

Chance Combs told the court that “some of my siblings do not have their mother and are now missing a father figure in their lives. We miss him deeply and need his presence, especially now.” Twins Jessie and D’Lila added: “Our family has faced many challenges … but no matter what we continue to stick together through it all. We know who our father truly is, a caring, loving, generous, passionate and dedicated man.”

Defense lawyers are asking Judge Arun Subramanian to impose no more than 14 months — roughly the time Combs has already served — paired with supervised release, drug treatment and counseling. Prosecutors are pushing for 51 to 63 months, pointing to testimony and surveillance evidence they say depicts acts of violence, including dragging and kicking a woman in a hotel hallway.

The judge has consistently rejected release motions, citing risk of flight and danger to the community. In denying bail last year, he dismissed even the multimillion-dollar bond package and declarations of family support, writing that no conditions would reasonably assure safety or appearance.

As sentencing approaches, the case now balances sharply between punishment and mercy. For prosecutors, a prison term of several years reflects the seriousness of the conduct and the need for accountability. For Combs’ family, it is a question of time: how much longer a son, a father and a brother will be kept from them, and whether a final chance for reunion will be lost. “My son is my life,” Janice Combs wrote. “Please let me have him back, even for a little while, before God calls me home.”