Diddy eyes easy time at Fort Dix prison, but former inmate Joe Giudice warns of violence and gangs
Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal team is requesting that their client be sent to FCI Fort Dix's Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) to serve his sentence.
Former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Joe Giudice, who served his own prison sentence at the New Jersey facility, and his lawyer, James J. Leonard Jr., told Fox News Digital what Combs can expect.
Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison on federal prostitution charges earlier this month.
Giudice served his sentence for conspiracy, bankruptcy fraud and tax offenses at Fort Dix from 2016 to 2019. FCI Fort Dix is a federal correctional facility in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
Combs' lawyer, Teny Geragos, filed a letter on Oct. 6, asking that Judge Arun Subramanian ask the Bureau of Prisons to suggest Fort Dix for her client. In the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, Geragos said that Combs would be able to "address drug abuse issues" and "maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts" in the prison's RDAP program.
Leonard spoke to Fox News Digital about the benefits of Combs serving his sentence at the low-security prison and all Combs could gain from the RDAP, noting that if Fort Dix is approved, "some people would say [it] is a pretty easy place to do time."
He also explained it's a highly sought-after program by eligible prisoners and one of the few facilities in the Bureau of Prisons that offers a Residential Drug Abuse Program.
WATCH: DIDDY'S REQUEST TO SERVE HIS TIME AT FCI FORT DIX EXPLAINED
"Number one, they live within a certain area inside of the prison with other people that are in the program, right? So you're not in the general population, you're in a different housing area with other participants in the program, all of whom have been carefully screened, all of whom have to be both legally and clinically eligible," Leonard told Fox News Digital.
He explained that it's a 6 to 12 month program, designated by the prison, and is a "very, very intensive therapeutic program."
DIDDY CRAFTS IMAGE OF MODEL PRISONER AMID FEARS OF RETALIATION FROM VICTIMS
Leonard noted that there are a lot of variables within the program, but if Combs were to complete all 12 months, that would be taken off of his sentence.
"So those 12 months would have him ultimately released in February 2027, give or take, in the event that he successfully completed the program and he received the maximum 12 months off," Leonard said.
Leonard emphasized that Combs would not automatically be placed in the program.
"You don't just walk into a program, OK? There's a waitlist, there's other people. This is very desired, not only for the help that it provides, not only for the benefits of the living conditions, which are different than the others, but at the end of this, you get time off. So you have to behave," Leonard said.
Family visitation would be a huge plus for Combs. During his sentencing on Oct. 3, several of Combs' kids, including daughters Chance, Jessie and D'Lila, were moved to tears and pleaded with the judge for leniency.
WATCH: ATTORNEY SHARES WHAT STRUCK HIM ABOUT FCI FORT DIX, THE PRISON WHERE DIDDY IS REQUESTING TO SERVE HIS SENTENCE
Giudice told Fox News Digital that he had family visiting as much as possible. He served his sentence in the general population, not in RDAP.
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"Family visits – basically, you come out to meet up in one big room and everybody's there and your family comes. I had family coming every weekend, you know what I mean, friends, family every weekend," he said.
Giudice also claimed to have witnessed violence and gang activity while serving his sentence at Fort Dix. He recalled one instance in which he was walking and all of a sudden saw a group of men before a knife incident occurred.
"They just like stabbed each other as they're walking across the track. It's like you've barely even seen anything, but you know, they just like stabbed each other for whatever reason, you know, whatever it was," Giudice alleged.
Fox News Digital reached out to FCI Fort Dix for comment.
Leonard told Fox News Digital he had visited Fort Dix's satellite camp, which is a separate location from where his client served his term. He stated that he was shocked to see the inmates roaming around and not in a large fenced area. Prior to this visit, he had never seen inmates at a federal prison with that much freedom.
"Here they were out and about in the parking lot, not bothering anybody. Then you realize that's because you're in a camp setting, right? The camp in particular, they have access to kind of move around the grounds of the prison complex."
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He continued, "And they were going from building to building, but they weren't doing it within this big fenced-in area. They're kind of moving around. And it's not a bad place to be, in all candor. It's not a bad place to be if you have to be locked up in the federal prison system."
According to FCI Fort Dix's website, the prison contains just over 4,100 male inmates. The prison holds about 3,900 and the minimum-security satellite camp houses around 200.
The prison is on the military Air Force base in southern New Jersey. It's 90 minutes from New York and an hour from Philadelphia, which is one reason Leonard believes the facility appeals to Combs.
The Bureau of Prisons will ultimately decide where Combs serves his sentence.