Federal agencies recently seized drugs, electronic devices and weapons from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Diddy is incarcerated. The Federal Bureau of Prisons led the operation, which was designed to address violence plaguing the Brooklyn facility.
Diddy (real name Sean Combs) has been locked up at the MDC since September. Two inmates were killed a few months before his arrival.
“Several inmates of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center allegedly orchestrated a series of distinct violent assaults, including the murders of fellow inmates, Uriel Whyte and Edwin Cordero,” the FBI’s James E. Dennehy said. “While this federal jail houses dangerous pretrial inmates, order and safety must remain paramount. Awaiting potential criminal charges is not a warranted justification to subject a detained individual to unnecessary attacks.”
Diddy was indicted for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial is scheduled to begin in May 2025.
The music mogul’s legal team sought a gag order before his trial. Diddy’s lawyers specifically targeted a witness named Courtney Burgess, who claimed to have seen multiple videos of sexual assaults. Diddy’s attorneys said the videos don’t exist.
“These stories have spread rapidly through the media and created the impression that such videos exist, which is false, and that the government is actually crediting his sensational claims, which is profoundly prejudicial,” they contended. “While the witness and his attorney eagerly spread false and unchecked claims in the media, they have avoided subjecting their claims to verification through the legal process.
“This witness – who has never even met Mr. Combs – claims that he received the tapes from an unnamed individual (who was subsequently shot and killed) along with a purported memoir of the deceased mother of Mr. Combs’s children that has since been denounced as fake. By treating these ridiculous claims as anything but a pathetic extortion scheme, the government is fueling the fire of online conspiracy theories and making it impossible for Mr. Combs to have a fair trial.”
Prosecutors pushed back against Diddy’s calls for a gag order. They accused Diddy of trying to “hijack” his criminal case as he battles scores of lawsuits.