The release date for imprisoned rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has once again been moved up, with Feb. 23, 2028, now penciled in as the day the fallen hip-hop star leaves federal lockup in New Jersey, after he was sentenced to 50 months for Mann Act violations last year.
This latest updated release date, which appears on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website for the rapper, marks the second time that Combs’ prison exit has been revised. His lawyers are battling the guilty verdict he received at his jury trial last summer on two counts of transportation for prostitution. The new February date is four months before his original release date of June 4, 2028, and weeks before his most recently adjusted date of April 15, 2028.
The ’90s and 2000s rap power player likely entered a drug rehab facility shortly after beginning his sentence at New Jersey’s Fort Dix federal prison, and it appears he is taking advantage of the opportunity to shave time off his sentence that is offered as one works through the program. While it remains unclear whether Combs actually entered rehab while behind bars, his sentence reductions are consistent with the program’s schedule.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons would not comment on the reason for the change, indicating that it does “not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including release plans.” But the known reasons a release date could be moved up list “good conduct time,” credits from approved programs and activities.
Fort Dix was handpicked by Combs’ lawyers as the facility of choice for their client because it is close to his family. In October, his children made heartfelt pleas to a New York federal judge to see their father released from federal lockup after more than a year of incarceration. Prosecutors, who had failed to convince a jury that Combs was guilty of more serious racketeering and sex trafficking charges, urged the judge to throw the book at him with a 10-year sentence.
Combs’ four-year, two-month sentence came as a second shock to a captive courtroom audience after the split verdict was read following his sensational eight-week trial. Combs’ staffers described years of emotional and physical abuse, which they said included sexual assault and kidnapping. Two of his ex-girlfriends — including star witness Cassie Ventura — spent hours on the witness stand describing life with the rap superstar, including drug-fueled, days-long “freak-off” sessions with male escorts.
But neither woman was convincing enough to persuade the jury to buy the prosecutors’ argument that Combs was involved in sex trafficking or that his company was a criminal enterprise. Following the trial, Ventura and Combs found themselves co-defendants in a lawsuit from a hired escort who claims he contracted an STI from the couple. Combs alone faces at least 70 civil suits stemming from a flood of complaints.
Meanwhile, Combs’ high-priced lawyers are attempting to get his conviction overturned and are taking the case to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where they argued that the judge overseeing sentencing should not have considered allegations related to the counts on which he was acquitted.
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