‘Chaos reigns’ in prison of notorious drug tycoon

Under normal circumstances, U.S. District Judge Gary J. Brown would have sent the man to the local federal prison to serve his sentence for tax evasion.

But one thing stopped him: “The dangerous and barbaric conditions that have prevailed for some time at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.”

The notorious prison, commonly referred to as MDC, is once again in the spotlight because of its latest celebrity inmate. Last week, a A New York judge has ordered Sean “Diddy” Combs to be detained there after the federal Prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty.

High-profile defendants like Mr. Combs sometimes enjoy special protection while in prison, and the music mogul is reportedly in a section of the Brooklyn MDC reserved for inmates requiring special protection.

According to local media, Mr Combs shares a dorm-style room with cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, who once ran a multi-billion dollar company but was convicted of multiple counts of fraud in March.

And since it’s the only federal prison in New York City, where many high-profile cases are handled, these two men are just the latest in a long list of notable names to have passed through the facility’s doors. That list includes rapper R Kelly as well as Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

But for many of the 1,200 current inmates at MDC Brooklyn, it’s a different story.

In a sentencing decision in August, Judge Brown cited several cases of fellow lawyers who had hesitated to send defendants and convicts to prison because of the conditions.

“The allegations of inadequate supervision, rampant assaults and lack of adequate medical care are supported by a growing body of evidence, some of which is compelling,” he said.

“There is chaos and uncontrolled violence,” Brown said. His ruling included the case of a defendant who was stabbed multiple times but said he received no medical attention, but was locked in his cell for 25 days. The judge cited understaffing and worsening conditions after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the prison to close.

If the Bureau of Prisons decided to send the defendant in the tax evasion case to the MDC, the judge wrote, it would vacate the man’s sentence.

MDC Brooklyn opened in the 1990s and its problems date back years.

In 2019, an electrical fire in the middle of winter caused a power outage, plunging the facility into darkness and freezing conditions.

In June 2020, an inmate, Jamel Floyd, died after being pepper-sprayed by corrections officers. His family sued the federal government over his death. A Justice Department investigation concluded there was “insufficient evidence” that corrections officials “engaged in administrative misconduct,” but acknowledged that the use of pepper spray violated policy.

Judge Brown is not alone in his harsh criticism of the institution.

In January, Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman refused to send a man who had pleaded guilty in a drug case there because of the dangerous conditions there.

After initially allowing the man, Gustavo Chavez, to await sentencing on probation, Judge Furman eventually let him bypass the MDC and report directly to the prison where he would serve his sentence.

In July, Edwin Cordero, 36, died after being injured in a fight while serving time at the MDC.

“The appalling conditions are actually fuelled by this terrible confluence of circumstances,” Andrew Dalack, a lawyer for Mr Cordero and Mr Chavez, told the BBC. “Overcrowding, understaffing and a lack of political will to improve conditions.”

As a Brooklyn-based public defender, Mr. Dalack has represented many clients who have been sent to the MDC. “It’s a really scary place,” he said.

After Mr. Cordero’s death, U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents the district where the Brooklyn facility is located, called for increased federal oversight to address “chronic understaffing, perpetual isolation and widespread violence.”

The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which operates the facility, said in a statement that it “takes seriously its duty to protect those in its custody, as well as to maintain the safety of prison employees and the community.”

A spokesperson for the office noted the creation of an urgent action team, which is seeking to address problems at the MDC, and an ongoing effort to hire more staff and address a backlog of maintenance requests.

A February 2024 report by the federal defenders’ office, where Mr. Dalack works, blamed overcrowding problems on the closure of his struggling sister institution in Manhattan, that the government shut down in 2021 – two years later Jeffrey Epstein dies in custody to the establishment.

They also said the presence of drugs and other contraband contributes to the dangerous atmosphere at the facility.

The federal facility houses people convicted of crimes, but a significant portion of the population is awaiting trial in the city’s federal courts and has not yet been proven innocent or guilty.

Those conditions weighed on Mr. Dalack’s clients, who already faced the prospect of more permanent incarceration.

“You don’t want to be completely stripped of your humanity when your life and freedom are on the line,” he said. “MDC Brooklyn has a way of breaking people down and making them feel less than human.”