Sean “Diddy” Combs
After Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in New York City earlier this week, the music mogul is being held in pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Remanded into federal custody after a judge denied him bail amid his indictment on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, Diddy, 54, will be housed within a “Special Housing Unit,” according to a report by CNN that was published on Tuesday, September 17.
The outlet added that Diddy will remain in this unit, which is “separate from the general prison population and is used to protect inmates who require additional protection,” until his next appearance in court which is scheduled for Wednesday, September 18.
The Daily Beast also reported that the Metropolitan Detention Center is “plagued by chronic understaffing, constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence, delayed access to medical care, and a rash of suicides and deaths.”
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Diddy, who has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges, will be one of approximately 1,600 inmates being held within the facility, according to the Daily Beast.
It has temporarily held high-profile people in the past including R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking involvement in her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual assault crimes. (Maxwell pleaded not guilty to six charges lodged against her and was convicted on all but one.)
According to Spectrum News NY1, a man named Uriel Whyte was killed inside the Metropolitan Detention Center on June 7. The outlet reported that the man had been held at the facility “for about two years, awaiting trial on gun charges.”
The incident was allegedly followed by a lockdown, one of several that have occurred at the center, later that month.
New York City’s Metropolitan Detention Center
The outlet reported that a detainee named Eli told them at the time, “So right now, we’re experiencing a lockdown where essentially, we come out of our cell every three days for a 15-minute shower. You’re literally in solitary confinement when you shouldn’t be.”
He continued, “It’s very violent. There’s stabbings, there’s stabbings at least a couple times a week.”
Diddy’s lawyers, Marc Agnifilo and Teny R. Geragos, cited the incident within their bail proposal, obtained by Deadline, and added that “at least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years.”
His lawyers also noted that the facility has been described in the past as “dreadful … noting that the issues with food contamination and hazardous physical conditions were an “ongoing tragedy.””
Diddy was taken into custody on Monday, September 16, and a grand jury indicted him amid his multiple sexual assault lawsuits and a federal investigation. He was indicted one day after his arrest.
A 14-page indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, detailed a barrage of accusations against the rapper. Diddy “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him,” the indictment stated. Some of the alleged incidents, which the indictment claimed were carried out to fulfill “his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” date back to 2009.
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Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, confirmed Diddy’s arrest via social media on Monday. Agnifilo also spoke out about the arrest in a statement to Us Weekly later that day.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney told Us in a statement. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo added, “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”