Inside the Brooklyn federal jail where Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is locked up: Violence, squalor and death

NEW YORK (AP) — As they unsuccessfully fought to support Sean “Diddy” Combs out of jail aft his sex trafficking arrest, nan euphony mogul’s lawyers highlighted a litany of horrors astatine nan Brooklyn national lockup wherever he was headed: horrific conditions, rampant unit and aggregate deaths.

Combs, 54, was sent to nan Metropolitan Detention Center successful Brooklyn connected Tuesday — a spot that’s been described arsenic “hell connected earth” and an “ongoing tragedy” — aft pleading not blameworthy successful a lawsuit that accuses him of physically and sexually abusing women for much than a decade.

The facility, nan only national jailhouse successful New York City, has been plagued by problems since it opened successful nan 1990s. In caller years, its conditions person been truthful stark that immoderate judges person refused to nonstop group there. It has besides been location to a number of high-profile inmates, including R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

In a statement, nan national Bureau of Prisons said: “We besides return earnestly addressing nan staffing and different challenges astatine MDC Brooklyn.” An agency squad is moving to hole problems, including by adding imperishable correctional and aesculapian staff, remedying much than 700 backlogged attraction requests and answering judges’ concerns.

A judge connected Wednesday denied a petition by Combs’ lawyers to fto him await proceedings nether location apprehension astatine his $48 cardinal mansion connected an land successful Miami Beach, Florida.

Here are immoderate important things to cognize astir nan jail:

What is nan Metropolitan Detention Center?

The Bureau of Prisons opened nan facility, known arsenic MDC Brooklyn, arsenic a jailhouse successful nan early 1990s.

It’s utilized chiefly for post-arrest detention for group awaiting proceedings successful national courts successful Manhattan aliases Brooklyn. Other inmates are location to service short sentences pursuing convictions.

The facility, successful an business area connected nan Brooklyn waterfront, has astir 1,200 detainees, down from much than 1,600 successful January. It has outdoor recreation facilities, a aesculapian portion pinch introspection rooms and a dental suite. It has a abstracted helping for acquisition programs and nan jail’s library.

The Bureau of Prisons closed its crumbling Metropolitan Correctional Center successful Manhattan successful 2021, leaving MDC Brooklyn arsenic its only installation successful nan nation’s largest city.

What are immoderate problems pinch MDC Brooklyn?

Detainees person agelong complained astir rampant violence, dreadful conditions, terrible staffing shortages and nan wide smuggling of narcotics and different contraband, immoderate of it facilitated by employees. At nan aforesaid time, they opportunity they’ve been taxable to predominant lockdowns and person been barred from leaving their cells for visits, calls, showers aliases exercise.

In June, Uriel Whyte, 37, was stabbed to decease astatine nan jail. A period later, Edwin Cordero, 36, died aft he was wounded successful a brawl. At slightest 4 group detained astatine nan jailhouse person died by termination successful nan past 3 years.

Cordero’s lawyer, Andrew Dalack, told The New York Times his customer was conscionable nan unfortunate of “an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected national jailhouse that is hellhole connected earth.”

At slightest six MDC Brooklyn unit members person been charged pinch crimes successful nan past 5 years. Some were accused of accepting bribes aliases providing contraband specified arsenic drugs, cigarettes, and cellphones, according to an Associated Press study of agency-related arrests.

MDC Brooklyn has besides travel nether occurrence for its consequence to debilitating infrastructure breakdowns and nan COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, a week-long powerfulness failure sparked unrest among shivering inmates and drew concerns from national watchdogs. In March 2020, nan jailhouse had nan first national inmate to trial affirmative for COVID-19.

As of past November, according to tribunal filings, MDC Brooklyn was operating astatine astir 55% of afloat staffing, which was taxing to labor and added to its information woes.

What is being done astir these problems?

Judges and advocates person taken notice, excoriating nan Bureau of Prisons for “dangerous, barbaric conditions” and pressing nan agency to make improvements. Some judges person moved distant from sending defendants to MDC Brooklyn aliases person fixed reduced sentences because of nan conditions there.

In January, U.S. District Judge Furman took nan uncommon measurement of allowing Gustavo Chavez, 70, to stay free connected bail aft his condemnation for supplier crimes alternatively than locking him up astatine nan Brooklyn jailhouse to await sentencing.

“Prosecutors nary longer moreover put up a fight, fto unsocial conflict that nan authorities of affairs is unacceptable,” Furman wrote.

In August, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown said he would vacate a 75-year-old defendant’s nine-month condemnation for taxation fraud and spot him connected location confinement if nan Bureau of Prisons sent him to MDC Brooklyn.

In response, nan Bureau of Prisons said it had “temporarily paused” sending immoderate defendants convicted of crimes to nan jailhouse to service their sentences. In a connection Tuesday, nan agency said 43 group were presently serving sentences successful a minimum-security portion astatine nan jail.

What different notable group person been detained astatine MDC Brooklyn?

Combs is conscionable nan latest personage inmate to beryllium locked up astatine MDC Brooklyn, joining a database that includes Maxwell, Kelly, Bankman-Fried and nan rapper Fetty Wap.

Other high-profile detainees person included Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, NXIVM activity cult laminitis Keith Raniere, erstwhile Mexican authorities charismatic Genaro Garcia Luna and ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado.

What happened to New York City’s different national jail?

The Metropolitan Correctional Center successful Manhattan closed successful 2021 aft a slew of problems that came to ray aft Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide location 2 years earlier.

The jailhouse — adjacent to nan courthouse wherever Combs was arraigned — was plagued by lax security, terrible staffing shortages and squalid, unsafe conditions including falling concrete, freezing temperatures and busted cells.

People detained astatine nan installation were relocated to MDC Brooklyn aliases a medium-security situation successful Otisville, New York.

What person Combs’ lawyers and prosecutors said?

Combs’ lawyers based on successful paperwork seeking his merchandise that nan Metropolitan Detention Center is not fresh for pretrial detention. They cited caller detainee deaths, and nan concerns shared by judges that nan jailhouse is nary spot for anyone to beryllium held.

Asked astir keeping a high-profile inmate for illustration Combs locked up, peculiarly successful ray of Epstein’s 2019 death, Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “We are concerned pinch anyone’s information whenever they are detained anterior to trial.”

“I do not tie immoderate benignant of relationship betwixt Jeffrey Epstein’s termination and what whitethorn aliases whitethorn not hap to immoderate different suspect while they are detained pretrial,” he added.

Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Wednesday that nan rapper is being held successful MDC Brooklyn’s typical lodging unit, which offers an other furniture of information but tin make proceedings mentation much onerous. He asked that Combs beryllium moved to a New Jersey jail, but a judge said it’s up to nan Bureau of Prisons to decide.

Is it conscionable MDC Brooklyn, aliases do each national prisons person issues?

An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, antecedently unreported flaws wrong nan Bureau of Prisons, an agency pinch much than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates, 122 accommodation and an yearly fund of astir $8 billion.

AP reporting has revealed dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that person hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.

In April, nan Bureau of Prisons said it was closing its women’s situation successful Dublin, California, known arsenic nan “rape club,” giving up connected attempts to betterment nan installation aft an AP investigation exposed staff-on-inmate intersexual abuse.

In July, President Joe Biden signed a rule strengthening oversight of nan Bureau of Prisons aft nan AP’s reporting shined a spotlight connected nan agency’s galore flaws. ___

This communicative has been corrected to region a reference to Michael Cohen, who served clip astatine a different national situation facility.

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