Sebastian Telfair opened up about his time locked up with Sean “Diddy” Combs at FCI Fort Dix, revealing how the music mogul stays strong behind bars.
The former NBA player was just released from the same New Jersey prison where Diddy is serving his 50-month sentence. Telfair told TMZ that Diddy is “holding it down” and “doing what he gotta do” during his time at the federal facility.
“Diddy’s holding it down. He’s doing what he gotta do. And where he’s at, they’re going to help him,” Telfair said in his first interview since walking free. “He’s doing good. Diddy’s gonna be Diddy.”
Telfair knows prison life firsthand. He was locked up for violating his supervised release in connection with a healthcare fraud case.
The 40-year-old was part of an NBA healthcare fraud scheme that bilked the league’s Players Health and Welfare Benefit Plan out of $4 million. Telfair personally took $358,000 through fake claims before getting caught in 2021.
He got sentenced to probation in 2024 but failed to complete the court-ordered community service. That violation landed him back behind bars for six months at Fort Dix.
The two celebrities made headlines earlier this year when photos leaked showing them together in prison. TMZ obtained pictures in November showing Diddy smiling and laughing with Telfair and other inmates.
The images went viral, showing a grey-haired Diddy looking relaxed despite his legal troubles.
Telfair said Diddy had been living a “rock star life” with partying and drugs before prison. But now the Bad Boy founder is using his time to turn over a new leaf.
“He couldn’t imagine how Diddy felt” about going from luxury to lockup, Telfair explained. Still, he said Diddy stays positive and makes the best of his situation.
Diddy was convicted in July 2025 on two Mann Act counts for transporting people across state lines for prostitution. A jury found him not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Judge Arun Subramanian gave him 50 months – one of the harshest Mann Act sentences in modern history.
The music mogul isn’t giving up his fight for freedom.
On December 23, Diddy filed an emergency motion demanding his immediate release before Christmas.
His lawyers called the 50-month sentence “a perversion of justice” and said the judge ignored the jury’s not-guilty verdict on the more serious charges.
The appeal argues that Judge Subramanian “acted as a thirteenth juror” by relying on conduct the jury rejected. Diddy’s team says he should only be sentenced for “interstate transportation for voluntary prostitution,” which carries much shorter guidelines.
