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The music mogul appeared covering his face and appearing stunned when a judge delivered a four-year, two-month prison term in a NY courtroom on Friday for charges involving prostitution.

While this term was significantly shorter than the life term he potentially faced when his conspiracy case started in spring, Diddy appeared shocked by the decision. The judgment came just moments after Combs had begged with the presiding judge, claiming he took full "accountability and duty" for his actions and declaring he was a reformed man who would, if freed, devote himself to his loved ones and community.

The sentence was announced with scarcely any reaction in the court. His relatives and supporters had been counseled by a clerk to keep any show of their sentiments in restraint.

Following the judgment was read, Combs appeared surprised to see two court marshals standing nearby, ready to take him back to the Brooklyn facility in the borough, where he has been imprisoned since his arrest more than a year before.

Outside the court, there was a noticeable sense of deflation as not one of prosecutors nor defense attorneys had received the result they desired. Proceedings that had included graphic accounts of sexual abuse, which the Combs had claimed was willing, concluded in a kind of anticlimax. The punishment handed down – four years, two months – was a shorter period than a review committee had advised and under half of the over a decade government attorneys had requested.

Diddy is projected to serve only an additional three years incarcerated, with time he has already served removed. However the punishment was also, clearly, considerably more than he and his backers had wanted, and perhaps even expected.

Sean Combs was adjudicated of two charges of arranging prostitution in July, allegations stemming from compelling partners to engage in elaborate "freak-offs" involving escorts. But on the graver accusations – of operating a mafia-like conspiracy that the prosecution asserted were created to satisfy a craving for power and control – he was declared innocent.

"Irrespective of what anybody claims, I feel that I’m truly sorry," he told Subramanian. "I got lost in overindulgence, I got lost in my ego. Due to my decisions, I forfeited my liberty. I plead your excellency for clemency."

Defense counsel had used a large part of the day asserting that his client was a dedicated father who had lost control of his existence after surgery in two decades ago that resulted in him addicted to medication as his situation descended unmanageable. Combs's six adult children addressed the court on his part.

However the court was unconvinced by the defense arguments that Diddy should be let go, practically, on completed incarceration. The defense tried every approach in that endeavor, making contentions grounded in racial justice, childhood trauma, and his former role as a business and Black community leader.

The magistrate looked unconvinced by Combs's declaration that he was a reformed man, highlighting that he had participated in an hurtful "freak-off" with "the testifier", a witness in the trial, subsequent to he shared an online apology subsequent to the release of recording depicting him beating another ex-partner, the singer.

The court cited testimony given by the witness, an online personality, in which Combs had instructed her to "ingest this fucking medication, go out, engage sexually [indicating an escort]. You’re not going to spoil my evening."

"You harmed them, physically, emotionally and psychologically," the judge told the defendant. "Why did it take place for so long? Since you had the authority and means to sustain it, and because you avoided detection."

Subramanian bestowed praise on Cassie and Jane for coming forward, calling them "courageous individuals".

"Nothing about this proceeding is good," the magistrate remarked, "aside from the affected individuals who testified."

Yet nonetheless in its denouement, the proceedings of Diddy had an atmosphere of a carnival. Inside the courtroom, relatives appeared attired extravagantly, while exiting federal court in the city, advocates and public figures each seemed to shout more vociferously than the other into broadcasting tools, each propelled by enthusiasm induced by nearness to his star status.

However Combs's trial will be viewed – as an overreach by prosecutors who gambled on converting a prostitution-related trial into a criminal enterprise charge, or as an episode in extended narrative about harsh manipulation involving wealth, intimacy and power – Diddy himself may have said it most accurately: he told the court his conduct had been "disgusting, disgraceful and unwell".