The notorious federal prison in New York City where hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is locked up on a host of sex trafficking charges is getting a makeover.
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset, Brooklyn, also known as MDC, has a reputation for extreme violence, multiple deaths, poor conditions, security problems, staff shortages, drug and contraband smuggling, some of it carried out by prison staff, and food containing maggots, all of which have since been debunked.
The jail has been deemed so dangerous that some judges have refused to send other violent offenders there. Notorious inmates held there include Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried and R. Kelly.
The Urgent Action Team, comprised of a group of senior officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, has been working to upgrade the decades-old facility.
Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities who claim there were rooms inside the Miami mansion dedicated exclusively to sex. In this photo, the music mogul was seen in New York hours before his arrest
The Metropolitan Detention Center is seen through barbed wire in the Sunset Park neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, upgrades and repairs to electrical and plumbing systems, heating and air conditioning, and food service were completed over several weeks in the spring, a NBC News Report revealed.
Combs, who pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges on Tuesday, is being held in solitary confinement, far from the comfort of his $48 million mansion, and on suicide watch.
His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, argues that MDC is unfit for pretrial detention and is working to have him transferred to a New Jersey jail while he awaits trial.
Senior officials from the group have made frequent visits to the prison and meet weekly to address problems facing the 1,200 inmates housed there.
On Friday, the group announced some of the new changes, including a 20 percent increase in the number of correctional officers and medical staff. However, there are still 157 vacant positions, according to the news outlet.
According to court documents, the MDC was operating at approximately 55 percent of its total staff.
The agency cites as one reason for the nationwide corrections officer shortage, particularly in New York City, the city’s high cost of living and much lower starting salaries than other law enforcement agencies.
To deal with this escalating problem, many MDC officers have had to work repeated overtime shifts. The Bureau of Prisons has attempted to counter this by increasing retention bonuses to boost officers’ salaries.
The official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said members of the Urgent Action Team are providing the jail with “sustained attention” and “sustained leadership focus” to mitigate problems at the jail, NBC reported.
The MDC rose to prominence after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in 2019 at another New York City prison, the Metropolitan Correctional Facility.
The prison was criticized for poor security, poor conditions and crumbling infrastructure. The Federal Bureau of Prisons closed it in 2021.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, also known as MDC, is operated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. The prison currently houses 1,200 inmates.
Sean P. Diddy Combs at the height of his career photographed in 2022 at Combs’ Bad Body Entertainment party in Eugene’s
Comb’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, speaks to reporters outside federal court after a bond hearing for Combs in New York last week.
The interior of a cell showing bunk beds, a combined toilet and sink at the MDC and the grim conditions in which inmates are housed.
This image shows the maximum administrative special housing unit.
There were two fatal stabbings this summer and another stabbing in April, when an inmate was stabbed 44 times by MS-13 gang members at MDC, NBC reported.
The improvements at MDC Brooklyn come amid increased congressional scrutiny and a new law overhauling oversight of the federal prison system, and since Combs took office, the federal prison system has seen a worsening crisis.