Stabbings, Brutal Sleep Regimes and Maggot-Ridden Food: Inside the Hellhole Jail Where Diddy is Caged — Where Ghislaine Maxwell and R Kelly Did Time
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a notoriously "brutal" facility where Ghislaine Maxwell and R Kelly also served time.
Sept. 18 2024, Published 3:32 p.m. ET
Sean "Diddy" Combs is desperately trying to bail out of a New York jail notorious for "barbaric" conditions, including frequent stabbings, brutal sleep regimes and maggot-infested food.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the disgraced hip-hop mogul's lawyers are fighting to free him from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn — where infamous felons like Ghislaine Maxwell and R Kelly have also served time.
Combs, 54, has been locked up at the facility since his arrest Monday night on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He was denied bail Tuesday and remanded into custody, but his defense team promised to appeal the decision.
During the hearing, Diddy's lawyers called the grim confines of the MDC "dreadful" and "inhuman", saying: "several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention."
Combs' defense lawyers also noted "an inmate was murdered" earlier this summer, adding: “At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years."
Diddy appealed his bail denial again this week as he was held behind bars in Brooklyn.
An inmate named Uriel Whyte was stabbed to death in June while in custody at the MDC awaiting trial on firearms charges, according to NY1.
Another inmate, identified only as Eli, told the outlet there were stabbings "at least a couple of times a week", calling the jail "very violent".
He said: "One guy was stabbed in the eye with a makeshift knife."
The former warden of the MDC, Cameron Lindsay, told TMZ Diddy's life could potentially be at risk there, claiming some inmates could view killing him as a "badge of honor".
Diddy was therefore being held in the Special Housing Unit, typically reserved for high-profile inmates or those needing extra protection as it is isolated from the general population.
Diddy was being isolated in the Special Housing Unit of the jail.
In addition to violence, the facility has been plagued by chronic understaffing, a lack of medical care and an unsanitary environment, per NY1.
The outlet obtained never-before-seen videos from inside the jail showing food crawling with cockroaches, mold in showers and ravaged equipment like broken light fixtures.
Last month, Federal Court Judge Gary Brown expressed concern about sending a 75-year-old convict to the MDC due to "dangerous, barbaric conditions".
The former head of Federal Defenders of New York, David Patton, also raised alarm about the state of the jail.
He said: "A lack of medical care to real serious sanitation issues to maggots in the food to violence, everything you can think about that's problematic at a jail or prison is problematic at the MDC, and it has been for a very long time."
In 2019, a power outage left more than 1,000 inmates freezing in their cells for days, The New York Times reported at the time.
Eli said: "They know this place should be shut down, and it is impossible, nearly impossible, for you to fight a case from MDC Brooklyn.
"Forget about your constitutional rights. Human rights here are a problem."
Jeffrey Epstein's partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, complained of horrid conditions during her stay at the MDC.
Maxwell — who was convicted in December 2021 on sex trafficking charges for helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls — was behind bars at the facility while awaiting her trial. She complained about being sleep deprived and claimed guards shone flashlights into her cell every 15 minutes throughout the night.
She also claimed to have suffered through unsanitary conditions like dirty water, raw sewage and vermin including bugs and rodents.
R Kelly also had a nightmarish stay at the MDC before he was found guilty of producing child pornography and enticing minors for sex.
He ended up suing the jail after saying he was experiencing symptoms of PTSD from being attacked by another inmate in 2020.
R Kelly was held at the jail while awaiting his trial and claimed he was attacked by another inmate in 2020.
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For Diddy, the conditions are a far cry from his celebrity lifestyle. He offered to put up $50million, wear a GPS monitor and limit his travel in exchange for his freedom pending trial, but prosecutors argued he was a flight risk who allegedly had a history of tampering with witnesses.
The judge agreed and ordered Combs to be remanded into custody, but his attorneys planned to take another shot at a bail package the following day in front of a different judge.
The defense asserted: "Mr. Combs should be released on the conditions proposed so that he can fight this case in Court effectively."
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