‘Strongly recommended’: What is FCI Fort Dix? Diddy requests prison term at New Jersey’s low-security facility

Sean Diddy Combs (AP)

Following his sentencing to four years and two months in prison on federal charges related to the transportation of individuals for prostitution, hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has requested to serve his term at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal facility in New Jersey known for its drug treatment and rehabilitation programs. Combs’ legal team filed a request on Monday designating the New Jersey facility as his preferred prison following his sentencing on Friday for prostitution-related charges.“In order to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts, we request that the Court strongly recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that Mr. Combs be placed at FCI Fort Dix for RDAP purposes and any other available educational and occupational programs,” Combs’ attorney Tony Geragos said in a letter addressed to judge Arun Subramanian, as cited by the New York Post. The Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) is the Bureau of Prisons’ most comprehensive treatment program.

What is the FCI Fort Dix?

FCI Fort Dix, located on the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst joint military base about 64 miles southwest of New York City, is the largest single federal prison by population, housing just under 3,900 inmates.The low-security facility also includes an adjacent minimum-security prison camp with 210 inmates. For a time, it was run by the warden who had been in charge of a Manhattan federal jail when financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself at the jail in 2019. That warden, Lamine N’Diaye, has since retired.Fort Dix has been home to several high-profile inmates over the years, including reputed mobsters, drug traffickers, corrupt politicians, and “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, as cited by CBS News.While at Fort Dix, Shkreli was placed in solitary confinement following allegations that he used a contraband smartphone to manage his drug company from prison, a violation of rules that prohibit inmates from conducting business or possessing cellphones.In 2021, a 27-year-old inmate at the prison was stabbed in the eye by another prisoner.In 2019, a Fort Dix inmate, a former inmate, and two others were arrested for using a drone to smuggle contraband, including cellphones, tobacco, weight-loss supplements, and eyeglasses. That same year, a correctional officer at the facility pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to smuggle in contraband in a separate case.