‘Genius’ Sean Combs gets support from high-profile fraudster jailmate ahead of sentencing

MANHATTAN (CN) — On the eve of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing for prostitution crimes, the hip-hop mogul has an unlikely ally: Chinese dissident and convicted fraudster Guo Wengui, who himself was at the center of a high-profile Manhattan trial last year.

In a letter to the court filed late Wednesday night, Guo — also known as Miles Guo or Ho Wan Kwok — called Combs the “most motivated and influential” big-name inmate he’s met at the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

“I’ve been with Mr. Combs now for close to 200 days where we sleep right across from each other,” Guo wrote in the letter, vouching for a light sentence for Combs. “I see Mr. Combs is a very kind, sensitive, genius person. He really cares about his name and his reputation.”

Guo claimed he’s also met disgraced FTX crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández while in federal lockup.

Convicted last year of racketeering and fraud in a $1 billion fraud scheme, Guo himself is still awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors say he duped thousands of his supporters into sinking cash into various fraudulent businesses that he started under the veil of anti-communist advocacy.

One of those businesses was GTV, an anti-censorship enterprise, which Guo founded alongside former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon. The pair appeared to be friends — Bannon was arrested by federal agents on Guo’s yacht in 2020 on fraud charges.

Guo could face a lengthy prison sentence for his crimes. But he wrote that Combs asked to go into business with him once he’s released to “create an AI platform so that we can help the people.”

“We have spoken about creating programs to take the youth out of the street and help them with music, sports and just to find their light,” Guo wrote.

After ducking racketeering and sex trafficking charges that could have landed him life in prison, Combs is hoping to get released on time served at his sentencing on Friday. He admitted to domestic violence at trial but claims he’s now a changed man dedicated to helping others.

In his sentencing submission, Combs said he started a business course in jail called “Free Game with Diddy,” where he taught fellow inmates entrepreneurship skills. Guo was apparently a student; he commended Combs for being “organized and truly prepared to share his ‘Free Game.’”

“After the first class I can see how he became successful he is a dedicated motivated individual when he puts his mind to something,” Guo wrote.

Guo’s note was one of several submitted to the court in support of Combs ahead of his sentencing. Other inmates also penned letters, as did friends of Combs in the entertainment business, who painted the rap producer as a generous, productive member of society.

Combs, too, wrote to the judge on Thursday. He lamented the time he’s had to spend away from his seven kids, writing “I have failed my children as a father,” and claimed that the conditions in his Brooklyn jail cell are inhumane.

“I will never commit a crime again,” he wrote in the four-page letter, insisting that his time behind bars has “changed me forever.”

But victim impact statements filed earlier this week suggest otherwise. Pointing to Combs’ violent past, vast influence and supposedly vindictive nature, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura wrote that she remains “very much afraid of what he is capable of” if he is able to avoid jail time.

“I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial,” she wrote in a letter to the court.

A key witness for prosecutors at trial, Ventura testified — while nine months pregnant — that Combs used to force her to participate in drug-fueled sex marathons for his own pleasure. In her letter, she called the events “degrading and disgusting, leaving me with infections, illnesses and days of physical and emotional exhaustion before he demanded it all again.”

Jurors ultimately rejected her claims by convicting Combs on only the lesser prostitution counts.

“If there is one thing I have learned from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be safe,” Ventura wrote to the judge. “Although I can hope for justice and accountability, I have come to not trust anything. I hope that your decision considers the truths at hand that the jury failed to see.”

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, a Joe Biden appointee, will decide Combs’ fate on Friday at what is likely to be a lengthy sentencing hearing. In addition to expected statements from prosecutors, defense attorneys and victims, Combs’ legal team also claims it has prepared a 15-minute video to be played for the judge ahead of his decision.

Prosecutors are seeking a more than 11-year prison sentence for Combs.

Follow @Uebey Follow @uebey.bsky.social