Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs have admitted in a Nov. 21 filing that the Bad Boy founder did, indeed, break the jail phone rules in place at the Metropolitan Detainment Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. The admission comes days after prosecutors claimed Diddy was attempting to “obstruct justice” from behind bars by calling family members in an attempt to contact witnesses and “influence” public opinion on his case.
In documents obtained by AllHipHop, one of Diddy’s lawyers, Alexandra Shapiro, admitted that Combs used other inmates’ Phone Access Cards (PACs) to make calls, a violation of the rules laid out by the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
“An inmate may not possess another inmate’s telephone access code number. An inmate may not give his or her telephone access code number to another inmate and is to report a compromised telephone access code number immediately to unit staff,” states the policy.
According to Shapiro, however, the practice is common within MDC.
“The use of other inmates’ PAC numbers is also a widespread practice at the MDC and not obstruction,” Shapiro wrote in the filing to Judge Arun Subramanian. “Inmates routinely share their calling minutes with other inmates, and they are limited to 15 minutes per call and one call per hour. The government has presented no evidence suggesting anything Mr. Combs says using other numbers is any different from what he says while using his individual PAC number.”
The attorney continued to argue that, “If anything, that Mr. Combs needs to resort to sharing minutes demonstrates that the conditions at MDC do not permit an adequate defense preparation. Although this is technically not permitted by BOP policy, the BOP effectively sanctions the practice, and all calls are monitored.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 30: Sean Combs is seen arriving at “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on October 30, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
Earlier this week, Diddy’s reps also accused the prosecution of manipulating the now infamous 2016 hotel footage of the Bad Boy founder assaulting ex-girlfriend, Cassie. In a win for the team, Judge Subramanian has also ordered that notes found during a recent raid on Diddy’s cell be destroyed, as prosecutors confiscated a total of 19 missives from his cell, NBC News reports.
Combs was arrested in September on charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He’s due in court Friday (Nov. 22) for his fifth bond hearing and has a trial date set for May 2025.
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