Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers are aiming at the government’s claims that the jailed mogul was attempting to obstruct justice by using other inmates’ information – by admitting to the allegations.
Prosecutors have claimed the 55-year-old has attempted to “evade law enforcement monitoring” and “corruptly influence witness testimony” while he’s behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
They say Diddy used other inmates’ Phone Access Cards (ironically abbreviated as PACs) and a “non-authorized third-party messaging service” to communicate with multiple people.
In a filing on Thursday (November 21), the day before a high-stakes hearing to determine whether or not Diddy will make bond and be freed from the MDC prison in Brooklyn, his lawyers flat out admitted he was using other inmates’ information to make calls.
Diddy’s lawyers framed his paying for and using other inmates’ PACs as no big deal.
“The use of other inmates’ PAC numbers is also a widespread practice at the MDC and not obstruction,” Diddy’s lawyer, Alexandra A.E. Shapiro, wrote in a filing to Judge Arun Subramanian.
“Inmates routinely share their calling minutes with other inmates, and they are limited to 15 minutes per call and one call per hour. The government has presented no evidence suggesting anything Mr. Combs says using other numbers is any different from what he says while using his individual PAC number,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro went a step further and blamed the dire conditions at MDC as an excuse for Diddy to use other inmates’ PACs to make calls to the outside world.
“If anything, that Mr. Combs needs to resort to sharing minutes demonstrates that the conditions at MDC do not permit an adequate defense preparation. Although this is technically not permitted by BOP policy, the BOP effectively sanctions the practice, and all calls are monitored,” Shapiro reasoned.
According to the BOP’s official procedures, inmates must provide administrators with a list of contacts – which must be approved – and the person on the list must be “agreeable” to receiving the inmate’s telephone call.
As for sharing, the BOP’s rules are pretty straightforward – which may cause a problem for Diddy during his upcoming court hearing.
“An inmate may not possess another inmate’s telephone access code number. An inmate may not give his or her telephone access code number to another inmate and is to report a compromised telephone access code number immediately to unit staff,” according to rules laid out by the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Diddy is awaiting trial after being charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He is slated to appear in court for his 5th attempt to make a bond on Friday (November 22).
Article source: https://allhiphop.com/news/diddy-broken-jail-rules/
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