Those charges depended on prosecutors’ claims that Combs employed violence and threats to compel two of his girlfriends — rhythm and blues singer Casandra Ventura, and a woman identified in court by the pseudonym Jane — to participate in the encounters.

Combs’ former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, wrote a letter to the judge requesting that he take into account “the many lives that Sean Combs has disrupted with his abuse and control.” Source: AP / Lionel Cironneau

Combs pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal his conviction. In an address to the court before Subramanian imposed the sentence, Combs apologised to Ventura and Jane and said he had learned his lesson.

The New York-born entrepreneur is one of the most prominent men in the entertainment industry to have faced trial on sex crimes charges.

Prosecutors urged judge to consider abuse