Free Diddy!!! - "He's served enough time behind bars" - defense attorney tells judge

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Lawyers for music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs urged a New York federal judge Monday to sentence him early next month to no more than 14 months in prison for his conviction on two prostitution-related charges, meaning he'd go free almost immediately if the judge agreed.

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Combs faces an Oct. 3 sentencing after his July conviction by a Manhattan jury on two Mann Act charges that outlaw interstate commerce related to prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

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"He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America - yet has made the most of that punishment. It is time for Mr. Combs to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life,"

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Among other things, they noted that he had to let go over 100 employees from his businesses and many of them have been unable to get new jobs because of their past association with Combs.

His seven children, they said, have faced "devastating consequences," including lost business opportunities in acting, television, fashion and concerts, with some of them being included in some of the nearly 100 civil lawsuits filed against Combs since his arrest.

The lawyers also noted that Combs and his family were set to star in a Hulu show about their lives, but the show was cancelled once the allegations against him became public.

Combs was removed from the boards at three charter schools he created in Harlem, the Bronx and Connecticut and was stripped of an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University, which plans to return his prior donations, they said.

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On one occasion, another inmate approached Combs with a shiv, accusing Combs of sitting on a chair that the inmate wanted to sit on, before Combs defused the situation and calmed the man and his makeshift weapon down, the lawyers said.

They said he has been under constant suicide watch, meaning every two hours he must present his identification card to guards to show he is alive and well and is awakened from sleep in a brightly lighted cell by a guard to ensure he is well.

He also has limited access to clean water, leaving him to heat the water that he drinks to ensure it won't make him sick and he must sleep within two feet of other inmates in a dorm-style room containing a bathroom and no door, the lawyers wrote.

"Mr. Combs has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin, often walking with a limp due to a painful knee injury that requires surgery," they said. And the food, they added, sometimes contains maggots.

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