Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentencing hearing on prostitution-related charges kicks off

By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean "Diddy" Combs sentencing hearing on prostitution-related charges kicked off on Friday, with prosecutors pushing for the hip-hop mogul to spend more than a decade in prison and the defense urging his swift release.  Combs, wearing a sweater and sporting a gray beard, hugged his lawyers as he entered U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian's courtroom in Manhattan shortly after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Combs faces up to 20 years in prison, though the judge has a wide degree of discretion in crafting a punishment. At the outset of the hearing, prosecutor Christy Slavik said a former personal assistant to Combs who had been planning to speak at the sentencing had changed her mind.  The woman, known in court by the pseudonym Mia, testified at his trial that he raped her multiple times. Slavik said her decision to no longer speak was do in part to a letter Combs' defense lawyers filed on Wednesday accusing Mia of lying, which the prosecutor described as "bullying."  Subramanian said he agreed with Slavik. "The tone of the defense's letter was inappropriate," the judge said.  Combs, who has been behind bars at a Brooklyn jail since his conviction, is expected to address the court. Two or three of Combs' children are also expected to speak, defense lawyer Brian Steel said.  "It appears that the defense is trying to drown out the voices of victims with character witnesses," Slavik said.  Prosecutors are pushing for Combs to spend 11-1/4 years in prison.  Defense lawyers say the appropriate sentence is 14 months, which would mean Combs would be released by the end of the year after receiving credit for time served. COMBS EXPECTED TO APPEAL  A jury on July 2 convicted Combs, 55, on two counts of arranging for paid male escorts to travel across state lines to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances – sometimes known as "Freak Offs" – with Combs' girlfriends while he recorded video and masturbated. The jury acquitted him on the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, which could have earned him a life sentence.  Combs pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal his conviction after sentencing. The founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs is credited with elevating hip-hop's stature in American culture. The New York-born entrepreneur is one of the most prominent men in the entertainment industry to have faced trial on sex crimes charges.  In a four-page letter to Subramanian, filed with the court on Thursday, Combs apologized "for all the hurt and pain that I caused others by my conduct," and asked the judge for mercy, saying, "I lost my way." "Lost in the drugs and excess. My downfall was rooted in my selfishness," he wrote, adding that the ordeal of incarceration had left him "humbled and broken to my core." He also said he was now sober for the first time in 25 years. Combs' lawyers also want to play an 11-minute video about him at the sentencing. The video shows Combs with his family, speaking to school children, and running the New York marathon to raise money for charity.  TRIAL CENTERED ON 'FREAK OFFS'  Over the course of a two-month trial earlier this year, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office argued Combs coerced two of his former girlfriends – the rhythm-and-blues singer Casandra Ventura and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane – into partaking in the performances through violence and threats to withhold financial support.  Jurors saw surveillance footage of Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016, an incident she testified took place after a Freak Off. Jane testified that Combs last year attacked her and told her to perform oral sex on a male escort after she said she did not want to.  Combs' lawyers acknowledged he had physically abused his girlfriends, but argued they willingly took part in the sexual performances. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they at times took part consensually because they loved Combs and wanted to please him.  The defense says evidence of Combs' abuse should not factor into his sentencing, while prosecutors said federal guidelines call for higher sentences when crimes involve threats or bodily injury.  (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York;Editing by Noeleen Walder and Nick Zieminski)

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