Transcript
Ashley Banfield (0:00)
Foreign. I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. Well, a federal judge just brought the hammer down on Sean Diddy Combs today for those prostitution charges that he was convicted of this summer. He brought the hammer down, but he didn't bring a sledgehammer down. Remember that? Diddy skated on those really serious charges of sex trafficking and RICO could have put him in the pokey for, you know, decades, but the jury acquitted him him of those. He did get hit with two counts of the man act as basically ferrying people across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. And he had to pay the piper on those. Today, sentencing day, Judge Aaron Subramanian, Federal judge gave him 50 months. Five. That's four years and two months behind bars. But here's the math on this, and that's what really matters here. You can always get a sentence, but there's always magic. Right? With 15% credit and with the 13 months that he's already served, while he's been awaiting trial and sentencing, he will effectively walk out in just over two years, 31 and a half months to be exact. As long as he keeps his nose clean. Right? You don't get that 15% credit if you're an asshole. If you do a bunch of bad stuff, like if he's got with a cell phone, if he's doing naughty things, if he's got with drugs, yeah, you don't get that. But if he does everything right, it just could be a little over two years more that he would basically have to serve. He's also been hit with a $500,000 fine. So that's not nothing, right? Half a million. But I am going to tell you this. In the billionaires world, and particularly in Diddy's world, a half a million dollars is like a short yacht charter. It's like chump change. It really isn't a lot. But make no mistake, this wasn't just about the numbers. Judge Subramanian lit into Diddy in a way that you almost never hear from the bench. He read a quote from one of Diddy's victims saying that Diddy told her to do something really, really filthy. And I want to remind you as I read this that this is a judge reading this quote in open court. So what I'm about to say is actually the judge saying this. This is like, unheard of. But the victim is saying that Diddy told her to, quote, take this pill, go out there and suck his dick him. I don't care. That is what the judge said. Again, the judge is quoting a victim. But the judge said those words in open court. And then the judge said flat out, the court is not convinced this wouldn't happen again. And when Diddy finally had his chance to speak, he called his own behavior shameful and sick, sickening and disgusting. Good for him. Finally acknowledging something that he did not acknowledge when he was at trial, Right. Even after the verdicts were handed down. He also didn't acknowledge it in the super slick video that he played in court today while begging the judge for mercy. And I'm going to get to that in a minute. I am recording this podcast on October 3rd, and if you didn't know this, October 3rd is one of the biggest days in true crime history, long before Sean Diddy Combs faced the music in federal court and found out his sentence. It's a big anniversary for 30 years to be exact, because on this date in 1995, a jury in Los Angeles found O.J. simpson not guilty of murdering his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Nicole's friend, Ron Goldman. Let me tell you something. Every time this anniversary rolls around October 3rd, it reminds me, oh, right, I'm X number of years in the United States because I got here 30 years ago this week. I basically arrived and checked in at my new job at a local TV station in Dallas, Texas. And suddenly it was time for the O.J. verdict. And I remember it was like one of my first big assignments, if not the first. And so it's kind of the the moment that I mark. So here we are. I can't believe it's been 30 years. And I'm sure that there are a lot of other people who say that more than I do. This was a verdict that rocked the nation both for and against O.J. and frankly, we're still coming to grips with what O.J. taught us about fame and power and justice. Earlier on my News Nation show, Shout Out News Nation. I got a show called Banfield, 10 O' Clock Eastern. I sat down with a woman who carries the O.J. trial and the O.J. verdict in her heart every single day. Her name is Kim Goldman. She's Ron Goldsman's sister. And I'm going to play you that conversation in just a little bit. She certainly had something to say about how far we've come in 30 years when it comes to punishing domestic abusers, because that Judge gave Diddy 50 months in federal prison. That ain't nothing. But is it something? One thing I will say is that it must have come as a real surprise to Diddy because He was already booking speaking engagements in Miami for next week. Let that sink in. Let me repeat it. Diddy was booking appearances in Miami next week. So I figure he was just thinking he was going through the motions today, right? Those aren't going to happen, Diddy. I got more on that, too in just a second. But first, sentencing day. While Diddy skated in July on the more serious RICO and sex trafficking charges, he paid the price for his two guilty verdicts today. The feds were pushing for more than 11 years, but Team Diddy asked for no more than 14 months. And I think Diddy was expecting he wouldn't even get that. And since Diddy's already been locked up for just, just over 12, it would have given him, I guess, a few weeks to pack up his cell at the Brooklyn Detention center before resuming his life and moving freely about the cabin. The 50 month sentence, though, means four years, two months and given credit for, you know, time served, plus the, the good behavior he accrues, he's looking at a little over two years in a federal pen somewhere. We do not know where, not yet. And it is really too bad that federal proceedings aren't televised because that was some damn salty stuff in that courtroom today. His lawyers insisted those free coughs were no more than consensual adults doing adult activities. But the judge blasted back saying that was, quote, flatly inconsistent with both reality and the acceptance of responsibility. And yeah, while Diddy did acknowledge that his behavior was disgusting and shameful and sick, as I said, he also said he's lost his career and his business and his reputation, but not, apparently, his family, because Diddy's six grown children spoke up for him in court today, briefly. And the defense team played a not so brief and really highly produced video portraying their client as a doting father and a generous mentor, basically an all around paragon of virtue. Diddy sobbed and sobbed as that infomercial played.