On eve of sentencing, Combs tells judge he has been 'reborn,' asks for mercy

NEW YORK (AP) — On the eve of his sentencing, Sean “Diddy” Combs wrote a federal judge Thursday proclaiming himself to be a new man after realizing that he was “broken to my core."

Combs, 55, told Judge Arun Subramanian that with his mind clear of drugs and alcohol after a year in jail, he can see how rotten he had become before his September 2024 arrest in a case that led to his conviction on two prostitution-related counts. His sentencing hearing is set to begin Friday morning.

“Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you — I choose to live,” he said.

A jury in July acquitted Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, but he still faces the possibility of years in jail.

Combs’ lawyers say he should go free this month, arguing his year behind bars has been enough of a penalty, while prosecutors want at least 11 years in prison.

In his letter, Combs wrote that he had "no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself.”

“In my life, I have made many mistakes, but I am no longer running from them,” he wrote. “I am so sorry for the hurt that I caused, but I understand that the mere words ‘I’m sorry’ will never be good enough as these words alone cannot erase the pain from the past.”

Combs apologized for hitting, kicking and dragging then-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — an attack captured on security camera.

“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily,” Combs wrote. “I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be."

That footage was shown repeatedly during his two-month trial, which also included testimony from women who said Combs had beaten, threatened, blackmailed or sexually assaulted them.

In her letter to the judge ahead of sentencing, Ventura dismissed Combs’ claims of remorse.

“I know that who he was to me — the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker — is who he is as a human,” she wrote. “He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.”

Ventura noted that Combs had denied her allegations of assault until the footage of the beating emerged, and she urged the judge to issue a sentence that “reflects the strength it took for victims of Sean Combs to come forward.”

“I hope that your decision considers the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control,” she wrote.

Combs also apologized to a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” saying that “after hearing her testimony, I realized that I hurt her.”

Jane told the jury Combs had chased her around her home, put her in a chokehold, punched her in the head, kicked her as she lay in a ball on the ground, dragged her by her hair and then pressured her into having sex with a male sex worker.

“I lost my way. I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess," Combs wrote. "My downfall was rooted in my selfishness.”

In jail, Combs said, he has been reading, writing, going to therapy, working out and teaching a six-week course to other inmates, “Free Game with Diddy,” imparting his business wisdom, as well as lessons learned from his mistakes and failures.

He vowed to never commit a crime again, telling the judge he’s gone through a “spiritual reset.”

Rather than make an example out of him with a lengthy sentence, Combs implored Subramanian to “make me an example of what a person can do if afforded a second chance.”

“If you allow me to go home to my family, I promise I will not let you down and I will make you proud,” he wrote.

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs sits courtside in the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks, March 12, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs performs during the MTV Video Music Awards, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - In this courtroom sketch, Sean "Diddy" Combs reacts after he was convicted of prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life, July 2, 2025, in Manhattan federal court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

FILE - Sean Combs arrives at the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Jan. 25, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.

The Trump administration included five more countries as well as people traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority to the list of countries facing a full ban on travel to the U.S. and imposed new limits on 15 other countries.

The move is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration, in what critics say unfairly prevents travel for people from broad range of countries. The administration suggested it would expand the restrictions after the arrest of an Afghan national suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over Thanksgiving weekend.

People who already have visas, are lawful permanent residents of the U.S. or have certain visa categories such as diplomats or athletes, or whose entry into the country is believed to serve the U.S. interest are all exempt from the restrictions. It was not immediately clear when the new restrictions would take effect.

In June, President Donald Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from coming to the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term.

At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

On Tuesday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S. to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration also fully restricted travel on people with Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents, the latest U.S. travel restriction against Palestinians. South Sudan was also facing significant travel restrictions already.

An additional 15 countries are also being added to the list of countries facing partial restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The restrictions apply to both people seeking to travel to the U.S. as visitors or to emigrate there.

The Trump administration said in its announcement that many of the countries from which it was restricting travel had “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records” that made it difficult to vet their citizens for travel to the U.S.

It also said some countries had high rates of people overstaying their visas, refused to take back their citizens who the U.S. wished to deport or had a “general lack of stability and government control,” which made vetting difficult. It also cited immigration enforcement, foreign policy and national security concerns for the move.

The Afghan man accused of shooting the two National Guard troops near the White House has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. In the aftermath of that incident, the administration announced a flurry of immigration restrictions, including further restrictions on people from those initial 19 countries who were already in the U.S.

The news of the expanding travel ban is likely to face fierce opposition from critics who have argued that the administration is using national security concerns to collectively keep out people from a wide range of countries.

“This expanded ban is not about national security but instead is another shameful attempt to demonize people simply for where they are from," said Laurie Ball Cooper, Vice President of U.S. Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project.

The Trump administration also upgraded restrictions on some countries — Laos and Sierra Leone — that previously were on the partially restricted list and in one case — Turkmenistan — said the country had improved enough to warrant easing some restrictions on travelers from that country. Everything else from the previous travel restrictions announced in June remains in place, the administration said.

The new restrictions on Palestinians comes months after the administration imposed limits that make it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the U.S. for business, work, pleasure or educational purposes. The announcement Tuesday goes further, banning people with Palestinian Authority passports from emigrating to the U.S.

In justifying its decision Tuesday, the administration said several “U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens.” The administration also said that the recent war in those areas had “likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities."

President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)