By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -After being sentenced to four years in prison on Friday over his conviction on prostitution-related charges, Sean "Diddy" Combs returned to a Brooklyn jail where he has spent more than a year in conditions his lawyers call violent and inhumane. Prosecutors say the conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center have improved in the time Combs has spent there since his September 16, 2024 arrest. They cite increased staffing levels, facility repairs, and a reduction in the number of lockdowns. Combs' 50-month sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian at a hearing in Manhattan federal court, comes after the hip-hop mogul was convicted in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The jury had acquitted him on the more serious counts of sex trafficking and racketeering, which could have earned him a life sentence. Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to appeal his conviction. Combs will in the coming weeks or months be assigned to a federal prison where he will serve out the remainder of his sentence, but for now, Combs will remain jailed in Brooklyn. COMBS SLEEPS IN DORM-STYLE ROOM The MDC, which has also held convicted sex traffickers like British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and rhythm and blues singer R. Kelly, is a far cry from the luxurious Los Angeles and Miami mansions Combs called home until last year. According to his lawyers, Combs, 55, sleeps within two feet of other inmates in a dorm-style room. The bathroom, with no door, is located in the same room, the defense lawyers wrote in a Sept. 22 court filing urging U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian to impose a low sentence. "Living conditions at the MDC remain inhumane," his lawyers wrote. "Mr. Combs has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin." At one point during his incarceration, guards stopped someone trying to cut Combs with a makeshift knife, defense lawyer Brian Steel said at Friday's sentencing hearing. In recent years, MDC has been plagued by persistent staffing shortages, power outages and maggots in inmates' food. Two weeks after Combs' arrest, prosecutors announced criminal charges against nine MDC inmates for crimes including assault, attempted murder and murder at the facility in the months before Combs arrived. In January of last year, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman declined to order a man charged with drug crimes detained pending trial at the MDC, calling the conditions there an "ongoing tragedy." But in a sentencing hearing in a different case this past May, Furman said conditions at the jail had improved. In a July court filing in Combs' case, prosecutors said the jail housed 300 fewer inmates than in January 2024 and that incidents of armed violence had declined. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which operates MDC, did not respond to a request for comment. The agency has previously said it was engaged in intensive efforts to improve conditions at the jail. PROSECUTORS DISPUTE COMBS' ASSERTIONS Combs' lawyers said he had been on suicide watch almost constantly, meaning he is awoken by guards while he is sleeping to ensure he is well and must present his identification card to guards every two hours. They said a September 12 video call with Combs was interrupted by a stabbing that led to a days-long lockdown. Prosecutors said Combs' description of his conditions was misleading or inaccurate. They said in a September 30 filing that he had been on suicide watch for a total of seven days, and that there had been no lockdowns in Combs' unit during his time at MDC. As to Combs' assertion that he had not felt sunlight or fresh air, the prosecutors said he had daily access to a "partially exposed" recreational space to allow sunlight and airflow. Combs' lawyers have acknowledged one benefit of his incarceration: they say after a 25-year drug addiction, he is now sober. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Bill Berkrot and Franklin Paul)
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