Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs is set to be released from his four year prison stint even earlier than previously projected after his sentence was shaved down for a third time.
Combs, 56, will be freed from New Jersey‘s FCI Fort Dix on February 23 in 2028, two months earlier than before.
The disgraced rap mogul was originally set to be released on May 8, 2028, following his July 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He faced a rocky start to his sentence amid claims he drank moonshine and made an unauthorized three-way call, which his lawyer denied. Around this time, his projected release date was pushed back to June 4, 2028.
However, the sentence was reduced again in October last year to a release date of April 25, 2028, thanks to the First Step Act, which aims to rehabilitate federal prisoners. It was then moved up again earlier to April 15, 2028.
T he Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to provide any detail on why Combs’ release date had been altered yet again in a statement to the Daily Mail
The bureau added that it does ‘not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including release plans.’
However, it said that contenders for early release may have ‘good conduct time,’ credits from approved programs and activities and credit for time served before sentencing.
Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Combs’s legal team, told the Daily Mail that they did not have enough information to comment.
Diddy faced many more serious charges during his trial, including charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, which would have seen him behind bars for life, but he was acquitted on those counts.
Combs was placed into custody at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center before he was moved at the request of his legal team.
‘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,’ his attorney, Teny Geragos, wrote in a court filing in October last year.
Ahead of his original sentencing, Combs wrote in a letter to the judge that he had been sober ‘for the first time in 25 years’ and has been going to therapy and began a mentorship program for his fellow inmates, USA Today reported.
His constantly-changing release dates have been tangled up in claims that the rap mogul drank moonshine and made an unauthorized three-way call, leading to his sentence extension to June 4.
Combs’s lawyer, however, denied these claims.
Reports detailed claims that Combs had consumed a concoction of fermented Fanta, sugar and apples, sources told TMZ.
‘The rumors claiming Mr Combs was caught with alcohol are completely false,’ a statement on the Bad Boy Entertainment founder’s X account read.
‘His only focus is becoming the best version of himself and returning to his family.’
A spokesperson for the artist also insisted to the Daily Mail that he ‘has not violated any prison rules,’ and is instead focused on keeping clean while serving his sentence.
‘His sobriety and self-discipline are priorities,’ the spokesperson said, ‘and he is taking them seriously.’
Combs’ rep also noted that ‘this is only his first week at FCI Fort Dix, and unfortunately, rumors will surface throughout his time there.’
‘We ask the public and the press to give him the benefit of the doubt, the privacy to focus on his personal growth, and the grace to move forward in peace.’
Days after the alleged alcohol consumption, Diddy allegedly made a call on November 3 to a woman who then patched in another person to the call. The Bureau of Prisons, however, prohibits inmates from adding multiple people to a call, and inmates are only allowed to speak to people on prison phones from previously-approved call lists.
The idea is to prevent inmates from coordinating criminal activity, such as drug smuggling, gang violence or witness intimidation.
But Combs has said he was simply speaking with his lawyer, who added the head of legal communications who was working on a statement for his approval to be sent to The New York Times.
The newest release date comes as Combs’s lawyers continue to appeal his conviction. Court documents obtained by CNN detail arguments from the rap moguls’ defense team, arguing that the ‘Freak-Offs’ that served as the basis of his conviction should not be applicable under the Mann Act.
His lawyers argued that they should, instead, be considered amateur porn shoots, E! News reported.
‘Freak-Offs and hotel nights were highly choreographed sexual performances involving the use of costumes, role play, and staged lighting which were filmed so Combs and his girlfriends could watch this amateur pornography later,’ Combs’s lawyers said, according to the documents.
‘Pornography production and viewing of this sort is protected by the First Amendment and thus cannot constitutionally be prosecuted. In other words, the term “prostitution” in the Act should be limited to those situations where a paying customer engages in sex with the person being paid.’
Prosecutors during his federal case, however, described the ‘Freak-Offs’ as drug-fueled orgies lasting days at a time.
