Sean “Diddy” Combs has gotten a judge’s approval to participate in the federal prison system’s in-house drug abuse rehab program while serving his sentence for prostitution crimes.
Judge Arun Subramanian said in a Wednesday (Oct. 8) order that Combs qualifies for the Bureau of Prisons’ Residential Drug Abuse Program, known as RDAP. Combs, who has been in a pretrial jail facility since his arrest last year, was sentenced last week to another three years in prison for orchestrating drug-fueled sex marathons known as “freak-offs” between his girlfriends and male escorts.
While the rapper has vehemently denied that his freak-offs violated federal law, his lawyers conceded during trial that he “obviously has a drug problem.” Combs’ team wrote in a recent letter to the court that the nine-month treatment program would help him “address drug abuse issues,” and prosecutors took no position on the matter.
Combs has not yet been assigned a prison to serve the rest of his time. His lawyers have requested that he be sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey, though RDAP is offered at more than 50 federal prison complexes nationwide.
For some inmates, RDAP carries the enticing perk that successful graduates can shave up to a year off their prison sentences. But there’s a catch: only “nonviolent offenders” are eligible for this type of early release, and it’s not clear that Combs will meet that standard.
Prosecutors say Combs relied on “unchecked violence,” including a now-infamous video of him beating Cassie Ventura at a hotel, to force women to participate in the freak-offs. Judge Subramanian seemed to agree at Combs’ sentencing hearing, saying that the rapper’s prostitution activity amounted to “subjugation.”
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Combs’ lawyers, meanwhile, have insisted that the jury rejected this theory of violence when they acquitted him of more serious racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. The defense position is that in convicting Combs of interstate prostitution only, jurors determined that the freak-offs were fully consensual sexual encounters.
The true meaning of Combs’ split verdict is a thorny legal question. Experts tell Billboard that it’s up for debate how much of the violence cited by prosecutors during the trial should be deemed part of his prostitution conviction. This question will likely be weighed by a higher court during Combs’ upcoming appeal, as well as by the Bureau of Prisons in deciding whether he qualifies for early release under RDAP.
Combs’ team is now preparing to file his much-anticipated appeal. Meanwhile, they’re also lobbying for a pardon from President Donald Trump, who confirmed on Monday (Oct. 6) that the rapper he called “Puff Daddy” has asked for clemency.
