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The music mogul appeared holding his head and appearing dismayed when a judge delivered a 50-month prison term in a New York courtroom on the end of the week for charges involving prostitution.

Even though this term was far less than the lifetime incarceration he could have received when his conspiracy case began in spring, Diddy seemed taken aback by the outcome. This ruling arrived just a short time after he had appealed with the court official, asserting he took full "answerability and accountability" for his actions and saying he was a changed man who would, if freed, commit himself to his relatives and community.

The sentence was announced with scarcely any reaction in the chamber. Combs' family members and advocates had been counseled by a court clerk to restrain any show of their emotions in check.

After the sentence was announced, Diddy seemed startled to find two court marshals behind him, set to take him back to the Brooklyn facility in the borough, where he has been held since his detainment more than a year before.

Outside the court, there was a palpable sense of letdown as not one of government lawyers nor defense attorneys had obtained the outcome they hoped for. Proceedings that had included detailed accounts of misconduct, which the accused had claimed was consensual, ended in a kind of whimper. The punishment imposed – 50 months – was 10 months less than a review committee had advised and under half of the over a decade government attorneys had requested.

Combs is projected to undergo only 36 more months incarcerated, with the period he has already served deducted. However the sentence was also, obviously, considerably more than the accused and his backers had wanted, and possibly even anticipated.

The music executive was adjudicated of two charges of arranging prostitution in mid-summer, charges originating from compelling companions to engage in elaborate "events" involving male prostitutes. But on the weightier charges – of operating a mafia-like conspiracy that prosecutors claimed were created to meet a desire for power and dominance – he was found not guilty.

"No matter of whatever anyone says, I believe that I’m truly apologetic," the defendant addressed the judge. "I strayed in overindulgence, I strayed in my pride. Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom. I implore your judge for clemency."

Combs's lawyer had used a significant portion of the hearing asserting that his accused was a committed parent who had lost grasp of his existence after an operation in the year 2000 that made him hooked to painkillers as his life spiralled out of control. Combs's six adult children addressed the court on his part.

But the magistrate was unmoved by the legal pleas that Combs should be freed, in essence, on prior detention. They left no stone unturned in that effort, presenting contentions rooted in equity issues, early life distress, and his former position as a corporate and community advocate.

Subramanian seemed unswayed by Diddy's testimony that he was a reformed man, noting that he had participated in an hurtful "incident" with "Jane", a participant in the case, following he posted an social media statement after the appearance of recording revealing him beating another ex-partner, the singer.

Subramanian pointed to testimony offered by the influencer, an online personality, in which Diddy had instructed her to "take this expletive tablet, proceed, suck his dick [referring to an prostitute]. You won't wreck my time."

"You harmed them, bodily, psychologically and mentally," the judge addressed Diddy. "Why did it happen for so extended? Since you had the influence and means to continue it, and as you avoided detection."

He bestowed accolades on Cassie and the witness for testifying, calling them "courageous women".

"No aspect about this case is positive," the magistrate remarked, "aside from the affected individuals who came forward."

But still in its conclusion, the proceedings of Sean Combs had an air of a spectacle. During proceedings, relatives appeared attired elaborately, while outside the courthouse in the city, advocates and online personalities each seemed to exclaim more vociferously than the other into live-streaming phones, each motivated by enthusiasm caused by nearness to Combs's celebrity.

Nonetheless these proceedings will be recalled – as an overextension by government lawyers who bet on transforming a prostitution-related trial into a organized crime allegation, or as an episode in extended narrative about harsh manipulation involving wealth, sex and authority – Diddy himself may have expressed it best: he told the court his conduct had been "revolting, disgraceful and sick".