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Courtroom sketch

A quarter year earlier, Sean "Diddy" Combs fell to his knees in a New York court after a panel cleared him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

"I'm going back home," he stated, turning around to face his relatives, who had backed him throughout the legal proceedings.

During Friday's session, a quieter iteration of the hip-hop mogul sat expressionless and motionless in his seat, as the judge sentenced him to in excess of 48 months in detention.

Once the judge completed announcing his sentence, the rapper peered over his shoulder at his loved ones and seemed to whisper the phrase: "I love you, I'm sorry."

It was a quiet moment to denote the termination of a disorderly 56-day legal proceeding that forever altered the public's image of Combs - once one of the world's most famous rappers.

Courtroom Displays

The panel viewed disturbing recordings of Combs' so-called "freak offs" - sex parties he had filmed involving professional escorts and his ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura and "Jane", an anonymous victim.

They also saw a footage that had previously circulated widely, of him assaulting Ventura in a lodging establishment corridor.

Judicial Findings

Back in July, a jury of twelve citizens acquitted Combs, 55, of organized crime and trafficking accusations - that could have resulted in lifetime incarceration - but found him guilty of arranging transport for prostitution purposes.

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Family members arriving for sentencing

During Friday's proceedings, the judge informed a downcast Combs that his crimes and abuse of his past romantic interests warranted 50 months in detention.

During his address to the court that Combs had utilized his renown and authority to "subjugate" his complainants, the industry magnate remained looking downward, remaining expressionless for the judge's 20-minute speech.

His group exceeding thirty relatives were gathered in the judicial chamber supporting him.

Courtroom Debates

His lawyers anticipated he would be free from detention in a few weeks, requesting from the court a one-year-and-two-month judgment, thirteen of those he had earlier fulfilled.

The prosecution had alleged Combs of running a criminal enterprise to force females into undesired and chemically-induced intimate encounters.

Even though he was cleared of those most severe accusations, sex-trafficking and racketeering, they had requested a term of more than eleven years in incarceration.

Courtroom Proceedings

Over the course of the day-long proceeding, the tribunal heard hours of speeches from several of his attorneys, his children, a religious leader and a legal system improvement proponent who informed the court that Combs was a reformed and substance-free person after being detained.

Additionally they viewed a video compilation from his lawyers showing him with his children as well as the memorial service for his ex-partner Kim Porter, the mother of some of his children who deceased three years prior.

Complainant Consequences

Yet the judicial body wasn't presented with from the complainants directly, following an individual who intended to address the court, Mia, a ex-employee of Combs who provided testimony incognito, retracted subsequent to the legal team composed a document calling her a liar.

The magistrate acknowledged the "brave women" who had the courage to come forward with the allegations against Combs, telling them they weren't "just speaking 12 men and women in the jury box".

Instead of personal testimonies on Friday, the magistrate shared numerous accuser statements from testimony, telling Combs: "These were grave crimes that permanently damaged two women."

Accused's Speech

Combs himself addressed the judicial body primarily since the beginning of his trial.

Breathing a large sigh ahead of getting up to present his address, he pleaded with the judge for "mercy".

He read with glasses from a sheet positioned ahead, seeking to preserve direct gaze with the judge as he told him: "I have only myself to hold responsible."

He broke into tears as he pivoted toward his relatives and inform his maternal parent: "I disappointed you as a child."

Loved Ones' Accounts

The moment represented another instance crying occurred during the hearing.

Many of Combs' supporters cried as six of his seven children came to the lectern to request the magistrate for a lenient judgment, informing him they required their paternal parent.

The female and male offspring grouped tightly with interlocked limbs as several of them cried while speaking the judge.

Sentencing Rationale

The magistrate stated during judgment that he had taken into consideration Combs' familial connections, but stated he must also consider the harm he had inflicted to his pair of complainants.

The offenses were grave, he elaborated, observing they occurred despite a federal investigation and the release of footage showing him beating Ventura in the corridor of lodging establishment.

"A background of beneficial actions can't wash away your history," he said.

Concluding Remarks

But, he told a dismayed Combs, who multiple times lifted his head and breathed deeply, there was optimism after his detention term.

"Mr Combs, you and your family, you are going to survive this," he said.

When the judge was done giving his speech, Combs provided a swift gesture to his dozens of family members and friends, before stepping silently through the exit to be taken back to a federal jail in Brooklyn.