Since Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing hearing, his legal team has been making moves related to the facility where he’ll serve out his prison time. The 55-year-old rapper was sentenced to 50 months (roughly four years) behind bars, with a portion of that being subtracted from the time he’s already spent in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. As it stands, Diddy’s legal team is requesting that he serve out his time at FCI Fort Dix. However, a high-profile former inmate is warning Combs against that pursuit.
Fort Dix is a low-security facility that’s located in New Jersey, and Diddy’s lawyers are specifically hoping he can serve his time there as part of its Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). Yet former reality TV star Joe Giudice – of the Real Housewives of New Jersey fame – doesn’t think that’s a good idea. Giudice spoke to Fox News Digital and made a number of claims about Fort Dix, where he served time. He claimed to have witnessed gang activity and violence and recalled a supposed stabbing incident involving inmates:
They just like stabbed each other as they’re walking across the track. It’s like you’ve barely even seen anything, but you know, they just like stabbed each other for whatever reason, you know, whatever it was.
53-year-old Joe Giudice served time at Fort Dix from 2016 to 2019 after being found guilty of bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy and more. While speaking to Fox News, Giudice also reflected on having “family visits” during his time being incarcerated. Despite Giudice’s pleas, his lawyer, James J. Leonard Jr., also spoke to Fox and shared positive sentiments on the RDAP. Apparently, it’s a program that’s heavily sought after by qualifying inmates:
Number one, they live within a certain area inside of the prison with other people that are in the program, right? So you’re not in the general population, you’re in a different housing area with other participants in the program, all of whom have been carefully screened, all of whom have to be both legally and clinically eligible.
Diddy was sentenced to jail time after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution (by way of the Mann Act). As part of that mixed verdict, though, the “Victory” rapper was also acquitted of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges, which were more severe offenses. As the embattled mogul’s lawyers have explained, while he’s been productive while incarcerated, the experience of being at the MDC has been “horrible” for him. He’s also had limited communication with his seven children and, just recently, he spoke to his youngest daughter, Love, over the phone, telling her he’d be “away for a little while.”
While it currently seems Sean Combs will serve time in prison, there’s also still the lingering theory that he could receive a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump, who he was “friendly” with years ago. President Trump has gone back and forth on the notion of extending clemency to Combs and, all the while, people have apparently been betting on the chances of a pardon coming through.
Of course, if that doesn’t happen, Diddy will indeed remain in prison, though it remains to be seen which facility that’ll be. The comments from Joe Giudice and his attorney suggest FCI Fort Dix has desirable qualities and not-so-desirable elements as well. So time will tell if Diddy’s team feels compelled to shift gears due to such comments or any further research on their part.