Did Diddy pay bail? New York judge rejects second request
Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail for a second time after his lawyers demanded his release from prison.
The Brooklyn Detention Center where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held pending his sex trafficking arrest and upcoming trial is home to a large number of high-profile criminals.
Combs is being held in solitary confinement in the special housing unit of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a federal prison that previously housed R. Kelly before and during the trial of the disgraced R&B singer, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2022 for sex trafficking and organized crime.
Kelly has since been transferred and has been housed at a federal penitentiary in North Carolina since last year, The Associated Press reported.
Other prominent inmates at the facility include Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for helping him sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell has since also been transferred and is currently being housed in an “honor dorm” at a federal prison in Florida.
Other former inmates include rappers 6ix9ine and Fetty Wap, the latter of whom is now being held in a federal prison in Ohio, and Martin Shkreli, the “pharma brother” who was convicted of securities fraud in 2017. He had his bail revoked and was sent to the Brooklyn facility after threatening former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The prison has also made headlines for its poor conditions. In 2023, the detention center agreed to settle a $10 million lawsuit with inmates who described harsh conditions at the facility during the frigid polar vortex of 2019, according to The New York Times. Over 1,600 inmates, some of whom have yet to go to trial, said they lived shivering in dark cells without access to heat, medical care, food or phone calls during a week-long power outage.
Bail denied for Diddy: Judge rules he will remain in jail until trial
Combs remains in federal custody after his legal team asked in court on Wednesday for his release on $50 million bail.
Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that Combs must remain in jail because his case poses a risk of witness tampering and obstruction, CNN and the New York Times reported. Carter said the government had proven “by clear and convincing evidence” that no amount of bail could guarantee that Combs would not tamper with witnesses, according to the Associated Press.
According to AP, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson Carter said the hip-hop mogul has “a long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse,” citing text messages from women who claimed Combs threatened to release videos of them engaging in “freak-offs” (sexual performances allegedly staged by Combs).
Outside the New York court, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said Judge Carter’s ruling “did not go in our favor,” but added that Combs’ legal team intends to appeal the bail denial.
Contributors: KiMi Robinson and Edward Segarra
