Sean 'Diddy' Combs could lose 41 days of good conduct time if a prison disciplinary hearing finds that he kept a phone. Bureau of Prisons rules ordinarily allow 27 to 41 days of good conduct time to be disallowed for a Greatest-severity violation. Inmates earn the credit off a sentence for good behaviour. Losing it would delay his release.
On 29 September, NBC News aired footage that appears to show Combs, 56, holding a phone at Fort Dix. NBC's sources, four men who shared his unit, say he uses a contraband phone for Instagram. A minimum loss would move his bureau-listed release from 21 January 2028 to 2 March.
What the Prison Rules Say About Phones
The discipline rules sort offences into four levels. A 'portable telephone' sits in the top level, which the rules call Greatest severity, next to guns and escape tools. Federal law lets an inmate earn up to 54 days off a sentence each year. Federal law allows eligible inmates to receive up to 54 days of good conduct time for each year of their sentence, subject to the Bureau of Prisons' determination of compliance.
Before any penalty, staff usually hand the inmate an incident report within 24 hours of learning of the conduct. A Discipline Hearing Officer decides the case by weighing which side the evidence favours, a lower bar than proof beyond reasonable doubt. The same men claim Combs drinks smuggled liquor. Alcohol offences are also classified as Greatest severity, but the good-conduct-time sanction is discretionary, so the two allegations would not automatically result in an 82-day loss.
How Combs's Release Date Has Already Moved
Bureau of Prisons records listed 8 May 2028 as the release date when Combs arrived at Fort Dix, a low-security site in New Jersey, in October 2025. By November, the records showed 4 June 2028, a 27-day delay. That month, prison documents obtained by CBS News showed staff recommending that Combs lose phone and shop privileges over an unauthorised three-way call. The bureau has not explained whether one caused the other.
His spokesperson denied the three-way call claim and a separate allegation about drinking homemade alcohol. Combs is serving a 50-month sentence and has been in custody since September 2024. He also joined a residential drug treatment course, which can shorten a stay by up to a year, but NBC News sources said staff have since taken him off it. Later listings brought his release date forward by more than four months.
What Happens Next for Combs
No report yet shows a disciplinary charge against Combs over the footage. The bureau told NBC News it does not discuss individual inmates but called contraband, including phones, 'a constant challenge'. Last month, prosecutors charged five people, including a Fort Dix officer, over an alleged scheme to smuggle in phones and knives, without naming Combs.
Combs's spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said the coverage treats 'ordinary prison life as news.' He added that Combs follows prison rules while appealing his July 2025 conviction on two prostitution-related counts. 50 Cent, who executive-produced Sean Combs: The Reckoning, mocked Combs on Instagram after NBC sources said he watched it on a modified tablet.
