Federal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.
The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs’s detention but was “preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security” of staff and inmates.
The jail, which holds 1,200 people, has been under renewed scrutiny since two men were fatally stabbed over the summer. Five inmates were later charged with murder.
Four other detainees and a guard were also charged with assault over incidents that included a man who was stabbed 44 times by three gang members, and one in which an inmate was stabbed in the spine with a makeshift ice pick.
An MDC corrections officer was also charged with shooting at a car during an unauthorized high-speed chase.
“Violence will not be tolerated in our federal jails,” US attorney Breon Peace said, adding that the charges should serve as a “warning to those who would engage in criminal conduct behind bars, and anyone else who facilitates those crimes: your conduct will be exposed, and you will be held accountable”.
The detention center has in recent years held Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and currently holds cryptocurrency swindler Sam Bankman-Fried along with Combs, whose lawyers have made poor conditions at the jail a part of their argument for bail.
The music impresario, who is facing over a dozen civil claims of sexual assault, has asked the 2nd US circuit court of appeals to grant his release after twice being denied bail by two separate judges in Manhattan. The arguments are set for Monday.
A federal grand jury will also hear new evidence against Combs next week, which is expected to include testimony from a man.
Prosecutors have also urged a federal judge in papers filed late Wednesday to reject requests by Combs’ defense team for early disclosure of evidence, including his accusers’ identities, describing the request as “blatantly improper”.
The justice department said the requests were “a thinly veiled attempt to restrict the government’s proof at this early stage of the case and to hijack the criminal proceeding so the defendant can respond to civil lawsuits” and “poses to witness security”.
The celebrity news website TMZ last published what it said was a non-disclosure agreement that Combs asked party-goers to sign for attending one of his notorious gatherings, or “freak offs”.
The NDA document directs signatories not to photograph, film or record – or, have another person photograph film or record – Diddy or anyone in his orbit without his written consent, and specifically names social media sites where attendees can’t post photos to without Combs’s permission.
