In a development not many people would have predicted a few years ago, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried are reportedly cellmates. Sources tell outlets including the New York Times and NBC News that the rap mogul and the former cryptocurrency kingpin are in the same dormitory-style room at the Metropolitan Detention Center. NBC News' sources say the unit houses 18 to 20 inmates who need special protection, including high-profile inmates like Combs and Bankman-Fried as well as those who could face retaliation for cooperating with investigations.
Combs, who was arrested last week, is being held without bail in his sex trafficking and racketeering case. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years on fraud-related charges in March but he requested to stay at the MDC while he appeals the conviction, Rolling Stone reports. In a court filing last week, one of Combs' lawyers described conditions at the federal lockup in Brooklyn as "horrific." But attorney Marc Agnifilo praised the facility on Tuesday, the Times reports. The "dedicated professionals at the MDC are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defense, and I personally thank them," he said
"He's strong, focused, and our meetings are very productive," Agnifilo said of Combs. "I can't say enough good things about the MDC, which has been responsive to our and his needs." He declined to comment on Combs' cellmates. The federal Bureau of Prisons said it "does not provide information about conditions of confinement, including housing assignments or internal security practices for any particular incarcerated individual." (More Sean Combs stories.)