Rehab programme could trim Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ prison sentence by a year

Sean Combs, the fallen music mogul convicted of prostitution-related offences, has been accepted into a drug abuse rehabilitation programme that could reduce his jail sentence by up to a year, a spokesman for Combs said.

The programme is offered at the sprawling federal prison complex in New Jersey, known as Fort Dix, where Combs recently arrived after a judge sentenced him to more than four years in prison.

With the time he has already spent in jail, the Bureau of Prisons had listed his release date as May 2028, which takes into account the 13 months he was held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York, as well as potential time off for good behaviour.

The drug abuse rehabilitation programme, which involves intensive therapy, could knock off even more time.

The spokesman for Combs, Mr Juda Engelmayer, who has spoken with his client since the transfer, said in a statement on Nov 10 that Combs is “committed to sobriety, focused on healing, and trying to set an example for others”.

Representatives for the Bureau of Prisons could not be reached immediately to confirm his acceptance into the programme.

Combs’ lawyers have said that he had abused drugs for years – including opiates for a time – but was able to get sober while in jail.

At Fort Dix, Combs has been sleeping in a nine-person room within a unit that houses about 200 people, Mr Engelmayer said, and he works in the chapel library, assisting the clergy with various duties.

At his federal trial, there was extensive evidence introduced about his drug use.

Federal agents who raided his mansion in Miami Beach, Florida, before his arrest recovered white powder that tested positive for cocaine and ketamine, along with pink MDMA tablets and different types of benzodiazepine pills.

On Nov 7, TMZ reported that Combs had been caught in prison drinking homemade alcohol, but Mr Engelmayer denied the report in the statement.

Combs, who turned 56 last week, has been acclimating to life in Fort Dix, a low-security facility on a military base outside Philadelphia with an inmate population of about 4,000 – the largest in the federal prison system.

It was once home to high-profile inmates such as former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli and George Jung, the cocaine smuggler portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2001 movie Blow.

The drug abuse rehabilitation programme to which Combs was admitted takes place in a residential treatment unit set apart from the general prison population.

The Bureau of Prisons describes it as a half-day programme rooted in cognitive behavioural therapy. (The rest of the day is devoted to “work, school, and other self improvement activities”, according to a Fort Dix inmate handbook.)

Mr Justin Paperny, who leads a prison consultancy called White Collar Advice and has clients in the drug programme, said a place in the programme is highly coveted because it can significantly curtail prison time.

He said defendants often will be released to a halfway house or home confinement after the residential portion of the treatment, which typically lasts nine months, ends.

“People try to do everything they can to get in,” Mr Paperny said.

Combs once faced the possibility of life in prison on charges that he sex trafficked two of his girlfriends by coercing them into fetishistic sex marathons with male escorts, and ran a racketeering conspiracy staffed by loyal employees.

During his eight-week trial, witnesses described an extensive pattern of violence, including repeated physical abuse of his longtime girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.

But the jury acquitted him of the most serious charges, and convicted him only of violations of the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.

Combs is mounting an appeal of his conviction and sentence; his lawyers have argued that he was unfairly prosecuted for sex between consenting adults.

With its large prison yard, Fort Dix is in some ways less restrictive than the Brooklyn jail where Combs was detained starting shortly after his arrest in September 2024. At the Brooklyn jail, Combs had not “breathed fresh air” in a year, his lawyers said in court papers.

Shortly after his transfer, TMZ photographed Combs in the prison yard, smiling and chatting with other inmates in standard-issue grey sweats.

Mr Engelmayer said Combs celebrated his birthday last week at Fort Dix with cake and applesauce.

“As long as you have money and don’t go around trying to act like a badass over there, you’ll be fine,” said Joe Giudice, who appeared in The Real Housewives Of New Jersey and spent about a year and a half at Fort Dix starting in 2016 after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud.

“It’s not easy, but you keep yourself busy.”

The prison at Fort Dix began to develop in the early 1990s, when the Pentagon and the bureau decided to convert an army base that had been stripped of its function as an active-duty training centre.

The inmates there now have access to televisions, exercise equipment and pool tables. The outdoor recreation area has a softball field, handball courts and bocce ball.

In the commissary, Pop-Tarts, a popular pastry snack, are US$2.85 (S$3.70) for a pack and tablet computers – with content restrictions – go for US$131.30. Inmates have the opportunity to teach classes on music or crafts such as leather work.

Combs’ lawyers have indicated that he may want to continue with a curriculum that he began teaching in the Brooklyn jail: a class known as “Free Game With Diddy” that is focused on business management and personal development.

In a letter submitted before his sentencing last month, Combs wrote to the judge overseeing his case that he had achieved sobriety for the first time in 25 years despite being “surrounded by drugs” at the Brooklyn jail.

“I’m committed to the journey of remaining a drug-free, non-violent and peaceful person,” he wrote. NYTIMES