Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Luigi Mangione can’t get any visits from friends and family for at least a month after a ‘race riot’ erupted at the Brooklyn jail where both are being housed.
In the latest episode of DailyMail.com’s podcast The Trial of Diddy, federal prison consultant Sam Mangel said the Metropolitan Detention Center was placed on lockdown since last week after ‘more than 40’ people were involved in a melee.
While high-profile inmates like Combs, Mangione and Sam Bankman-Fried were not housed at the area where the incident occurred, the entire Brooklyn facility was placed on ‘modified operation’ for at least the next month.
‘He’s locked down now, at least 23 out of 24 hours,’ Mangel told the Daily Mail of Combs. ‘I’m sure they allow him out at least three times a week for a shower, maybe to make a phone call, but that’s about it. So he’s being fed in his cell, it’s a six by nine cell with a little slat for a window.
‘If he wants to exercise in his cell, he can read in his cell. There are no TV’s and that’s where he is and will be for the next month other than legal visits. I know my client as well as other clients. I work closely with another consultant that is actually a Mangione’s consultant. They’re clamoring for legal visits because it’s the only time that they can get out of their cells to see people, interact with people in a more open environment.’
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prison confirmed to DailyMail.com that ‘multiple’ inmates ‘were observed fighting’ at the Brooklyn facility on February 22.
Combs has been in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest last September
‘Responding employees isolated and contained the incident and at no time was the public in danger,’ BOP spokesman Donald Murphy told the DailyMail.com podcast.
MDC, which houses more than 1,600 inmates, is notorious for it’s ‘deplorable conditions. In 2019, the prison made headlines after inmates suffered days without heat or power during severe winter conditions.
Diddy has been locked up at MDC since he was arrested last year on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He’s been denied bail multiple times.
Combs has vehemently denied all of the allegations since they first came to light and pleaded not guilty after charges were initially filed.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Trial of Diddy, Mangel said Combs and Mangione are housed in a general population area.
‘They’re not on a floor that would be susceptible to the riots,’ Mangel said. ‘They’re on a floor with other high profile individuals that the last thing they want to do is get involved in the riots.
Diddy is currently locked up at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of his trial on May 5
‘So they’re on a truly segregated floor from everybody else. Now, they are punished the same as everyone else in the facility. unfortunately, while fortunately why they might be safer.’
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prison said there were injuries during the February 22 incident.
‘Multiple incarcerated individuals were medically assessed and treated for minor injuries at the facility,’ Murphy said. ‘Two incarcerated individuals sustained injuries requiring outside medical treatment.’
Murphy refused to comment on the injuries sustained by the inmates involved in the fight. He added no jail employees were injured.
Mangel said his sources in the federal jail said more than 40 prisoners were involved in the melee, adding race riots are becoming more common.
‘The facility can’t afford to have a high profile, certainly any inmate, but in this case, a high-profile inmate get injured from another inmate.,’ Mangel said. ‘And because the MDC is a dangerous place, obviously, look what happened last Friday, not only from a PR point of view, they’re terribly understaffed, there’s a lot of racial tension, a lot of gang tension, a significant number of illegal immigrants are held there.’
Prisoners are so far still allowed visits from their attorneys but visits from family and friends have been placed on pause at MDC, BOP officials said.
Combs attends a pre-trial conference in his sex trafficking case with his attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Anthony Ricco in New York City, New York, U.S., December 18, 2024
Mangel said inmates are typically allowed out in the general population form 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.. With the lockdown, inmates are now confined to their tiny cells 24 hours a day.
Mangel said one of his clients, who is also housed on the same floor as Combs, have had interactions with the disgraced Bad Boy mogul.
The prison consultant said Diddy has been seen playing a card game of spades and board games with other inmates.
‘It was around holiday time, so I believe he was as depressed as any other guy that was there that couldn’t be with their family because obviously you have restricted visits and how long can be with someone and how many visitors can come in,’ Mangel said. ‘So it is a depressing time, but he was as friendly and congenial as everyone else on that floor. I’m sure he laughed at times.
‘It’s not a funny situation to be in, but they all look around and say, in their opinions, a mockery of justice it is that they are here. because it hasn’t sunk in yet, they’re all still pre-sentenced, pre-trial, so there’s a lot of optimism still that they can hold.’
Although Combs is still awaiting trial and has denied all of the charges, Mangel said hiring a prison consultant like him would be wise to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Mangel said if Combs were to be found guilty, the ‘safest’ place to house a high-profile inmate would be the U.S. penitentiary in Tucson, Az where he would have the ‘opportunity to live his life’.
Mangel said USP Tucson has a dedicated area for prisoners convicted of sexual offenses that has a higher level of protection.
‘If I were consulting him, should he be found guilty, I would be working with his legal team to get him to the best facility based upon his sentence,’ Mangel said.
‘The strategy is to get him the most amount of freedom as quickly as possible is something that I would want to work with him. But first and foremost, if found guilty, where to get him to a place that he’s safe, that his family knows he’s safe, so that he can then institute whatever strategies we can put into place for him given those circumstances.’
Search for The Trial of Diddy on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts now.
