It's been a wild ride for the Bad Boy mogul. Honestly, if you told someone five years ago that Sean "Diddy" Combs would be trading designer suits for a prison jumpsuit at a federal facility in New Jersey, they probably wouldn't have believed you. But here we are in January 2026, and the question of exactly how long has Sean Diddy Combs been in jail is one of the most searched things on the internet for a reason.
The short answer? As of mid-January 2026, Diddy has been behind bars for roughly 16 months.
But the math isn't just a straight line. It’s a mix of pre-trial detention, a high-stakes federal trial, and a final sentencing that didn't go exactly how prosecutors—or Diddy himself—expected.
The Incarceration Timeline: How We Got Here
To really get how long he’s been away, you have to go back to that Monday night on September 16, 2024. That was the night federal agents picked him up at a Manhattan hotel. He didn't get out after that. Even though his legal team offered up a massive $50 million bail package, the judge said no. Three times.
So, he spent about a year sitting in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn while his lawyers prepared for the fight of his life.
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Then came the trial in May 2025. It was a circus. For six weeks, the world heard graphic testimony about "Freak Offs" and interstate travel. On July 2, 2025, the jury came back with a split decision. They cleared him of the big ones—racketeering and sex trafficking—but found him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
How Long Has Sean Diddy Combs Been in Jail Since His Sentencing?
The actual "prison" part of this journey started officially on October 3, 2025. That’s when Judge Arun Subramanian handed down a 50-month sentence. That’s four years and two months for those doing the quick mental math.
Since he had already been locked up for about a year while waiting for the trial, the judge gave him "time served" credit. Because of that credit, his projected release date was set for May 8, 2028.
Currently, he is serving the remainder of that time at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal correctional institution in New Jersey. It's a far cry from the MDC in Brooklyn, which many inmates have described as "hell on earth," but it’s still prison. He’s been at Fort Dix since late October 2025.
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Life Inside: Chapel Jobs and Rule Breaking
Life at Fort Dix hasn't been entirely quiet for the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy. Just recently, in early 2026, reports surfaced that he’s been keeping busy with a job in the prison chapel. He's also reportedly enrolled in a drug treatment program, which, if completed, could actually shave some time off his sentence.
It hasn't all been smooth sailing, though. He’s already faced disciplinary action for a few things:
- Violating rules regarding "three-way" phone calls.
- Alleged possession of prison-made alcohol (often called "hooch").
- General "disruptive behavior" that briefly put his participation in rehab programs at risk.
There were even rumors flying around that he was bragging to other inmates about a potential pardon from President Trump. However, as of January 2026, those hopes seem to have hit a wall. In a recent interview, the President made it pretty clear he wasn't interested in granting clemency, citing Diddy's "past statements" as a major hurdle.
Calculating the Total Time
If you’re trying to track the total days, you’ve basically got two chapters.
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First, the pre-trial stint: September 2024 to October 2025. That's one year of life in a high-security detention center.
Second, the post-sentencing stint: October 2025 to now (January 2026). That’s about another three and a half months.
Add those together, and Diddy has been in federal custody for roughly 485 days and counting.
What’s Next for Diddy?
His legal team isn't just sitting around. They filed an appeal in December 2025, trying to argue that the whole prosecution was basically a "targeted attack" on consensual behavior. If that appeal actually goes somewhere, his time could be cut short.
But for now, he’s stuck with that May 2028 date.
He can earn "good time" credits—about 54 days per year—if he stays out of trouble. But given the recent reports of disciplinary issues with the phone calls and the hooch, he’s already lost some of those potential credits.
What you can do now:
If you're following the legal side of this, keep an eye on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Their ruling on his conviction appeal, likely coming later in 2026, is the only thing that could realistically change his release date at this point. You can also check the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate locator periodically; they update projected release dates based on "good time" earned or lost in real-time.