Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has surprise jail roommate: Sam Bankman-Fried

Being the new guy in Brooklyn’s federal lockup, Sean “Diddy” Combs may be able to seek advice about surviving prison life from Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency fraudster from Palo Alto.

The New York Times and NBC News reported that the rapper and music mogul has been moved to the section of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where the FTX founder also is being held.

The barracks-like area of the MDC holds 18 to 20 people and is reserved for detainees who require special protection, while the facility itself has a reputation for being notoriously tough, plagued by chronic understaffing, constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence, delayed access to medical care, and a rash of suicides and deaths, as the Daily Beast reported. 

Combs, 54, was locked up in the MDC following his arrest last week in New York City on a federal indictment accusing him of a racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and other charges, allegations that center on the sexual abuse of women, NBC News said. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried asked to remain in the MDC, while pursuing his appeal. He was sentenced in March to 25 years in prison for masterminding a cryptocurrency fraud scheme in which he was accused of syphoning away millions of dollars in client money to finance his lavish lifestyle and investments. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused the son of two Stanford University law professors of orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.

Combs and Bankman-Fried wouldn’t seem to have much in common, except that they both liked making hundreds of millions of dollars and enjoying power, privilege and access to famous people.

Combs became beloved by his celebrity friends for throwing his lavish “white parties. According to Page Six, the guests lists at Combs’ “white parties” included Jennifer Lopez, his ex-girlfriend, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Mariah Carey

Combs is being prosecuted for orchestrating much more disturbing, allegedly criminal gatherings: His alleged sex- and drug-fueled “Freak Off” parties. The federal complaint against Combs alleges that he “subjected victims to physical, emotional, and verbal abuse to cause the victims to engage in Freak Offs.”

Combs has now traded in his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami for reportedly cramped and noisy living quarters in the MDC. And to use prison vernacular, one of his “cellies” is Bankman-Friend, though a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons wouldn’t confirm their housing assignments.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons the (FBOP) does not provide information about conditions of confinement, including housing assignments or internal security practices for any particular incarcerated individual,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the media.

The attorneys for both men have complained about the conditions at the MDC. In the lead-up to Bankman-Fried’s trial last year, his lawyers said that the entrepreneur, a vegan, was surviving on a diet of water, bread and peanut butter, the New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, Combs’ attorneys cited the jail’s “horrific” conditions in pleading for his client to be released on $50 million bail pending trial. The judge declined, citing concerns that Combs could attempt to tamper with witnesses.

The MDC is a hulking concrete structure with about 1,200 inmates, the New York Times said. A lawyer for a detainee who died there in July from injuries sustained in a fight called the prison “an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected federal jail that is hell on earth,” the New York Times also said.

On Tuesday, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo declined to comment on his client’s reported roommate. The New York Times also said the attorney spoke much more positively about the MDC, saying that the “dedicated professionals at the MDC are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defense, and I personally thank them.”

Originally Published: September 24, 2024 at 3:03 p.m.