Sean Diddy Combs’s lawyers say he has endured “inhumane” conditions behind bars as they argue he should be sentenced to no more than 14 months, meaning he would walk free almost immediately
The lawyers of Sean Diddy Combs are asking a judge to consider time served when deciding his punishment next month, arguing that the rapper has already suffered greatly while waiting for sentencing.
In a new legal filing, his attorneys requested that he receive no more than 14 months in prison, which would allow him to be released almost immediately. The defense team is pointing to what they describe as shocking conditions inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Combs has been held for more than a year. They claim the music mogul has faced violence, medical neglect, and deprivation that go beyond what sentencing guidelines account for.
“The Sentencing Guidelines—as well as the data from previous cases discussed above—do not adequately consider the pervasive violence and inhumane conditions of confinement that Mr. Combs has experienced at the MDC,” the filing reads. “The government has argued that Chavez ‘no longer provides an accurate picture of conditions at the MDC.’ But the government is wrong. As defense counsel has already made this Court aware, Mr. Combs is routinely subject to violence—both directed at him and at others.”
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The lawyers cited an example from September 12, when a scheduled video call between Combs and his attorneys was abruptly ended because of a stabbing at the facility.
The lockdown that followed lasted several days, which they say reflects how common disruptions and dangers are inside MDC.
The submission also detailed what Combs’s team calls “inhumane” day-to-day living conditions. Among them: constant suicide watch checks that wake him up throughout the night, lights shining 24 hours a day, and only limited access to clean water. The filing states he often has to heat water himself to avoid illness.
Combs is also said to sleep in close quarters with other inmates, just two feet away from others, in a room with a bathroom that has no door.
According to the defense, he has “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin.” He reportedly walks with a limp from an untreated knee injury, has had no physical therapy for other injuries, and lacks access to any proper exercise equipment.
Food conditions were also described as dire. The legal team says Combs has survived on expired processed pork, chicken, and beef which, “on any given day can contain maggots.”
They add that he has not had consistent access to edible, healthy meals despite being pre-diabetic. Laundry facilities are reportedly broken, and temperatures inside the building swing between freezing and unbearably hot.
Combs was convicted on July 2 of two counts of transportation for prostitution but was cleared of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He continues to deny all wrongdoing.
Prosecutors are expected to push for a longer sentence, but they will not submit their recommendation until later this month.
His attorneys argue the year he has already spent at MDC should weigh heavily on the judge’s decision. They say Combs has endured punishment far beyond what the law intended, and they are calling for a sentence that includes supervised release and treatment programs instead of extended prison time.
Combs is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3 in New York.
The court will ultimately decide whether the hip-hop star remains behind bars or walks free after a year that his lawyers insist has been defined by “inhumane” confinement.
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