Sean “Diddy” Combs is spending his early prison days working in the chapel and enrolled in an intensive drug treatment program, according to prison documents exclusively obtained by CBS News. He has also found himself facing disciplinary action for an unauthorized phone call, just days after being transferred to a federal prison in New Jersey, with the looming possibility of temporarily losing his phone and commissary privileges as a result.
Combs was moved to the Fort Dix prison on Oct. 30 after being sentenced to more than four years on prostitution-related charges. The photo below, first obtained by CBS News, was taken for prison records upon his arrival.
Obtained by CBS News 
The documents offer a glimpse at how the hip-hop mogul is spending his prison days — in a hard-to-get-into treatment program and on a coveted work assignment, even as he is accused of flouting a prison rule.
A prestigious work assignment
Combs is working as a chaplain’s assistant, which is considered one of the more desirable assignments at the Fort Dix prison. A former prison commissioner told CBS News the tasks vary, but typically inmates maintain the chaplain’s religious library, clean their office and help with some record-keeping.
Combs’ publicist, Juda Engelmayer, told CBS News, “He works in the chapel library, where he describes the environment as warm, respectful, and rewarding.”
What makes the assignment especially desirable is that it has prestige within the prison, the former commissioner said. It allows the inmate to work in a private office, often with air conditioning, and chaplains frequently bring in food for religious services which can be shared with the assistant.
A corrections officer who worked in federal prisons for more than 20 years told CBS News the chapel is one of the only places where inmates can congregate freely.
Chaplains can also allow their assistants to prepare a call-out list, which tells officers which inmates are allowed to leave their cell to go to programs or medical appointments. Assistants could add their connections or friends to the list.
Combs, who said he was raised Catholic, has spoken publicly about not identifying with any specific denomination, although he has in recent years referenced God several times. In 2017, he wrote on social media, “God puts us all thru things for reason,” and he was seen reading the Bible in the courtroom during his trial.
An unauthorized team call
Within a few days of his arrival at the prison, Combs found himself in trouble: He made a three-person call on Nov. 3, in violation of prison rules. He told officials it was a conversation with his legal team about issuing a statement to The New York Times.
The Bureau of Prisons prohibits inmates from adding multiple people to a call, and inmates can only speak to people on prison phones from previously approved call lists, under longstanding security rules.
According to the documents, he called an unnamed woman, and about halfway through their call, Combs said he needed to talk with someone described as “the digital person” regarding blogs. The woman asked Combs if she should add that person to the call and he said “yes.” Combs first spoke briefly with the woman about arranging visitors for the weekend and suggested they bring cash — “200 singles.” There is no indication as to how he intended to use the money. Prison regulations bar visitors from bringing in currency other than coins for the vending machines.
After they finished speaking about visitation, the woman added an unknown male to the call — circumventing prison rules.
Combs later explained that he was speaking with his attorney and she added the head of legal communications to work on a statement for his approval to be sent to The Times. He said they were not talking about blogs. It was not made clear why Combs was putting together a statement for the news organization.
Multi-person calls are banned in prisons because of concerns that inmates could use them to coordinate criminal activity, such as drug smuggling, gang violence or witness intimidation. However, such calls can also be used for more innocent purposes, such as talking to two loved ones at the same time.
One corrections officer told CBS News, for example, “They’ll call their girlfriend, and ask them to add their mother.” The source added that inmates run the risk of getting caught but know corrections officers can’t truly monitor the thousands of calls taking place within federal prisons daily. There are over 4,100 inmates at FCI Fort Dix alone.
According to prison documents, Combs said no one had informed him about the regulations on phone calls, and he said he never received the prison admission and orientation handbook.
Prison officials recommended Combs lose 90 days of phone privileges and 90 days of commissary privileges for the infraction. Their ruling was filed on Nov. 4 — Combs’ 56th birthday. It’s unclear if the recommended penalty has been implemented.
“This is a serious offense that shows a disregard for the rules,” a source close to the investigation said.
Engelmayer told CBS News, “It was a procedural call initiated by one of his attorneys and was protected under attorney client privilege. There was nothing improper.”
Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo did not comment.
An intensive drug treatment program
Combs has been assigned to the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP) unit, known as the Bureau’s most intensive drug treatment program. Correctional officials told CBS News that inmates need to qualify for the program, and one source said most inmates don’t get placed in an RDAP at the start of their sentence.
Sentences can be reduced up to one year by participating in the drug treatment program, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
“Mr. Combs is an active participant in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) and has taken his rehabilitation process seriously from the start,” Engelmayer said. “He is fully engaged in his work, focused on growth, and committed to positive change.”
Combs’ lawyers had written to the judge presiding over his case, Arun Subramanian, to “strongly recommend” that Combs be allowed “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts.”
During his trial, Combs’ attorneys referred to his drug use as a primary driver of his infamous “freak-offs.” In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Combs blamed drugs and excess for his actions and said he was “now sober for the first time in 25 years,” adding that he had been trying his best “to deal with my drug abuse and anger issues.”
“Prison will change you or kill you — I choose to live,” Combs wrote in his sentencing memo.
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