‘Better off dead’: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs pleads for ‘mercy’ in letter to judge; claims ‘old me died in jail’

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (AP)

Sean “Diddy” Combs, facing more than 20 years in prison after a high-profile trial, asked a federal judge on Thursday for “mercy” and “another chance,” saying he has changed and sometimes questioned if he was “better off dead.””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,” Combs said in a letter addressing the judge overseeing his case.In the letter, Combs said he was “scared to death” at the thought of being separated from his family and pledged that he “will never commit a crime again.”Combs personally apologized to his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and to the woman who testified as “Jane” at trial for the harm he caused them.”I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved,” he said about Ventura. “I’m sorry for that and always will be. My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry.”In the four-page letter, Combs also accepted “full responsibility and accountability” for his actions. “I want to apologize and say how sincerely sorry I am for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused others by my conduct. I take full responsibility and accountability for my past wrongs,” he wrote. Combs admitted that his crimes were “rooted in [his] selfishness” and that he had been “lost in the drugs and the excess,” adding that a year in prison had transformed him for the better.He requested a lenient sentence to spend time with his family and have “another chance” to be a better father, son, community leader, and person.After two months of testimony and arguments in the New York federal case, jurors acquitted the 55-year-old of the most serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges, avoiding a potential life sentence. However, he still faces more than 20 years in prison for convictions on two prostitution-related counts, as reported by AP.