Diddy Fights Back With Appeal — Former FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Jailmate Seeks to Overturn Conviction

Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a formal appeal to challenge his 50-month prison sentence — the latest legal twist to emerge from New York’s notorious MDC, where he once shared a cell block with fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.

Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs officially filed a notice of appeal on Monday, signaling the hip-hop mogul’s intent to overturn a prison sentence handed down earlier this month.

According to court filings dated October 20, the appeal challenges two prostitution-related convictions issued by a New York federal court in July 2024. Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison, fined $500,000, and ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his eventual release.

While he was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges, the verdict still represented a significant legal blow for one of music’s most influential figures.

Combs is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn — the same facility that once housed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is serving time for orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in crypto history.

Sources cited by NBC News in September 2024 described both inmates as living in a “barrack-style area” accommodating fewer than 20 prisoners, many of whom required “special detention” due to their high-profile status.

The MDC, often criticized for poor conditions and recurring violence, has been the subject of multiple human-rights complaints — including reports of stabbings and overcrowding that have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and watchdog groups.

SBF’s Appeal Continues as FTX Fallout Deepens

Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) — once hailed as the “king of crypto” — is also fighting to overturn his conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy linked to his time at FTX.

SBF was sentenced in March 2024 to 25 years in federal prison after prosecutors said he siphoned more than $8 billion in customer funds through his exchange and its sister firm, Alameda Research. Key FTX insiders — including Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison — testified against him, sealing one of the most high-profile convictions in crypto history.

Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried resurfaced online, claiming that his 2022 arrest in the Bahamas was politically timed to block his testimony before U.S. Congress. His next appeal hearing is set for November 3.

The coincidental detention of two fallen icons — one from Wall Street’s crypto frontier, the other from Hollywood’s music empire — paints a striking portrait of fame, finance, and accountability in the post-FTX era.

Both cases have drawn sharp attention to how the U.S. justice system treats high-profile defendants, particularly amid the growing intersection between celebrity culture and digital finance.

Here at Coinlive, we believe Diddy’s appeal is more than a celebrity headline — it’s a reflection of how power, money, and influence collide within the same legal ecosystem that once housed crypto’s biggest collapse.

Whether in Web3 or entertainment, both sagas reveal the same underlying truth: in the age of transparency and tokenized accountability, reputation is no longer untouchable.