What jail is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in and how long will he have to await trial there?
Lawyers for disgraced music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have so far been unable to convince the court to transfer him out of “horrific” prison prior to trial.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was taken into custody in New York this week and indicted on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The disgraced music mogul is accused of allegedly operating a decades-long criminal enterprise that engaged in sex trafficking, forced sexual labor, kidnapping, arson, and various other offenses.
Two judges have now denied him bail and he has been remanded to a notorious jail in Brooklyn while he awaits trial that has housed Ghislaine Maxwell, R Kelly and Sam Bankman-Fried in the past. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told CNN that he’s not going to let Combs “sit in that jail a day longer than he has to,” a facility whose conditions he’s described as “horrific” and a place “not fit for pre-trial detention.”
People reports that the rapper and producer, who also goes by the names P. Diddy, Puff Daddy and Love, has been placed on suicide watch in the facility.
What jail is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in and how long will he have to await trial there?
For at least the next two and a half weeks Combs will call the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn home, which has been described as “hell on Earth.” The understaffed prison has been plagued with violence including prisoner-on-prisoner murders and suicides forcing extended lockdowns of the facility.
Video of the conditions in the prison obtained by Spectrum News NY1 show cockroaches crawling on the food, loose live wires from broken light fixtures and mold growing in the shower. “They know this place should be shut down, and it is impossible, nearly impossible, for you to fight a case from MDC Brooklyn,” one of the prisoners who spoke with the outlet said. “Forget about your constitutional rights. Human rights here are a problem.”
Combs’ next court appearance is reportedly scheduled for October 9 when his legal team will once again attempt to get him released or at least have him transferred to a different prison. Earlier this week they failed to convince two judges to release him on a proposed $50 million bail package which included surrendering his passport until he goes on trial for the crimes he’s accused of.
Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky cited the “power imbalance” that Diddy has with his alleged victims for not granting bail at his arraignment. The next day, District Court Judge Andrew Carter said that “the government has proven the defendant is a danger,” based on damning text messages he allegedly sent his ex, Cassie Ventura, when police were at his house in 2016 following a reported brutal assault.
“Call me, the cops are here. I got six kids. You, please call. I’m surrounded. You gonna abandon me all alone,” Combs reportedly texted Ventura. “I have a black eye and a fat lip. You are sick for thinking it’s okay to do what you’ve done. I still have crazy bruising,” she replied.