NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 6: (L-R) Sean Combs, Donald Trump and Melania Trump attend GUCCI and MADONNA host A NIGHT TO BENEFIT RAISING MALAWI AND UNICEF at the United Nations on February 6, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by JOE SCHILDHORN/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Before Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced to prison last week, his legal team pulled out all the stops! The music mogul penned a heartfelt letter to Judge Arun Subramanian. Then, there were the letters his loved ones and industry peers sentfrom his kids to Yung Miami. Hours before the sentencing, his team released an 11-minute documentary about his accomplishments. He even spoke up for himself in the courtroom for the first time since the case began. Their efforts might’ve moved the needle, but not enough! He still has to serve time while his lawyers fight to get him assigned to a specific prison.Most recently, President Donald Trump revealed that Diddy asked him for a presidential pardon.
As previously reported, Judge Subramanian sentenced Diddy to 50 months (4 years, 2 months) in prison with one year credited as time served. As a result, the producer will likely serve three or fewer years for two counts of transporting people across state lines for paid sexual escapades. After finishing his prison bid, Combs has to spend another five years on supervised release. Additionally, he must pay a $500,000 fine. His lawyers have already vowed to appeal the sentencing and its terms.
In the meantime, attorneys are fighting another battle: Diddy’s prison selection. Combs has been locked up at the Metro Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest in September 2024. He was denied bail at least three times while there, despite citing health and safety issues.
Now, his lawyers want to relocate him to a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. On Monday (October 6), the attorneys said that the NJ facility has a drug treatment program that can help Diddy stay clean. He revealed his sobriety in his appeal to the judge before sentencing.
In a new letter, Sean Combs’ lawyers urged Judge Subramanian to “strongly recommend” that the federal Bureau of Prisons place Combs at FCI Fort Dix. Judges often make recommendations about where inmates should serve time. However, its up to the Bureau of Prisons to decide. The agency has said those decisions are based on several factors, including the severity of the conviction, the required security level, and an inmates programming needs. The prison, which has just under 3,900 inmates, is on the grounds of the joint military base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
FCI Fort Dix is one of several dozen federal prisons with a residential drug treatment program. His lawyer, Teny Geragos, said the program will allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts.”
Subramanian has not yet approved or denied the request to recommend placement at FCI Fort Dix. Over the years, the New Jersey prison has been home to several high-profile inmates. That list includes reputed mobsters, drug traffickers, corrupt politicians, and ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli.
While his attorneys duke it out in court, Sean Combs is allegedly calling in favors! On Monday (October 6), President Donald Trump told reporters that Diddy had asked him for a presidential pardon. Trump, referring to Diddy by the nickname ‘Puff Daddy,’ did not say if he would grant the request. He also didn’t clarify when exactly Sean Combs asked for a pardon.
Diddy aside, since starting his second term in January, Trump has issued a presidential pardon or clemency to at least 1,600 people. This isn’t the president’s first comment on Combs and his case this year. In August, he responded to a Newsmax reporter who asked about Diddy, Rep. George Santos,and Jeffrey Epstein’s partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Well, he was essentially, I guess sort of, half-innocent. I dont know what they do; hes still in jail or something. He was celebrating a victory but I guess it wasnt as good of a victory,” Trump previously said about Diddy.
Press play below to watch the president respond to reporters on October 6.
Associated Press staff contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
