Sean “Diddy” Combs’ release date has been revealed by the federal Bureau of Prisons, weeks after the rap mogul was sentenced to 50 months behind bars following his sensational summer trial, which ended in a split verdict where he was found guilty of violating the Mann Act.
Combs can anticipate a May 8, 2028 release from federal lockup. If the beleaguered 1990s rap power-player-turned music and fashion kingpin serves his sentence without a hitch, he will serve 85 percent of the 50-month term he was handed earlier this month; he has the opportunity to earn “good conduct time” each year while serving his sentence as part of the First Step Act.
The release date also includes the year he served at a Brooklyn federal lockup while he was awaiting trial.
After being arrested and charged with racketeering and sex-trafficking, Diddy’s eight-week trial ended with a jury finding him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution but he was acquitted of the more serious charges.
The headline-grabbing legal proceedings involved two of his ex-girlfriends taking the witness stand, where they described drug-fueled “freak-off” parties that could last for up to four days. Prosecutors accused Combs of coercing and manipulating the women into participating in the “freak-offs” and of running his business as a criminal enterprise.
Combs has seen a series of blows to his legal case in the past several weeks. After receiving a four-year-and-two-months sentence on Oct. 3 despite his powerhouse legal team’s attempts to have him set free with a sentence of time served, the rapper then requested that he be housed in the New Jersey prison at Fort Dix to remain close to his family and take advantage of its drug rehabilitation program. But his request was denied by the judge who oversaw his trial.
“The court will recommend a facility in the geographic location of the defense’s choosing, but not the specific facility, which is determined by the Bureau of Prisons,” Judge Arun Subramanian wrote in an Oct. 8 ruling. He added that Combs will be booked into a facility in the New York area and be considered for a rehab program.
In addition, the notion that a presidential pardon for the Bad Boy Records founder is imminent was rebuffed by the White House at a recent press conference, where an official told a reporter there’s “zero truth” to that rumor.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the official told NBC News in a statement. “The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Trump also mentioned Combs’ request as merely one in a sea of sentences he’s asked about.
“A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office earlier this month. “I call him Puff Daddy; he has asked me for a pardon.”
This follows an August interview with Newsmax where the president cast severe doubt on any clemency for Combs.
“You know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well,” Trump said at the time. “But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.”
Combs’ legal team has filed a notice of appeal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Details of that appeal have not yet been made public.
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