Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Transferred to FCI Fort Dix — One Former Inmate Called the NJ Prison a ‘Kiddie Camp’
Diddy’s new digs might be an upgrade.
On Thursday, disgraced rapper Sean Combs was transferred to FCI Fort Dix, where he’ll be serving his four-year sentence on prostitution-related offenses. While he’s still locked up, he likely sees the federal penitentiary as a step up from the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’d been housed since his arrest in September 2024.
Diddy wanted to do time at Fort Dix
Diddy had requested that he do his time at Fort Dix so that he could take advantage of its drug treatment programs and also be closer to his family, according to CBS. The Bad Boy Records mogul will also enjoy a more relaxed environment that should make the remainder of his time behind bars far more pleasant than it has been. (Diddy’s lawyers had complained about the “inhumane” conditions at MDC, including maggot-infested food.)
About 3,900 inmates are housed at Fort Dix, with an additional 200 at an adjacent satellite camp, making it the largest federal prison by population. It’s about 64 miles southwest of Diddy’s hometown of NYC. Prisoners live in dorm-style units, with Diddy living in a special drug treatment unit, ABC News reports.
Fort Dix has been home to a number of high-profile inmates over the years, including The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, and former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Former inmate called Fort Dix a ‘laid back’ prison
Seth Ferranti, who served time at Fort Dix, “found it wide-open for a prison—more like a little town of its own,” he wrote in a 2018 article for Vice.
“Coming down from higher-security facilities I spent the bulk of my 21-year sentence in, I was surprised at the laid-back attitudes of both the staff and inmates, who seemed to operate on a different wavelength from the more ferocious federal pens,” he said.
At times, it felt like inmates were running the prison, Ferranti said, noting the relatively low number of guards. Contraband, including cell phones and drugs, was common. And well-off prisoners could live relatively well, all things considered.
“When I was at Fort Dix, I paid one inmate to clean my room, another to wash my clothes, and a third to smuggle me food from the kitchen. I felt like I was living like a king for around $500 a month,” he recalled.
“Most veterans of the federal system consider Fort Dix a kiddie camp,” Ferranti claimed.
But Fort Dix is still a prison. Inmates must abide by the strict prison schedule, violence isn’t uncommon, and the food leaves much to be desired. However, Diddy will be able to supplement his prison meals with commissary items such as soda, Reese’s peanut butter cups, almond milk, Pop-Tarts, and Doritos.
“Don’t get it twisted, though,” Ferranti wrote. “This is still prison, and at the end of the day, prison sucks, no matter where you’re at.”
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