Bill Cosby apparently is attempting to make his time in prison productive.
The 81-year-old comedian is helping fellow inmates, or “residents” as he calls them and even prison employees on matters like food, health, and staying out of trouble.
The New York Amsterdam News reports that Cosby’s longtime publicist, Andrew Wyatt — who visited him over Thanksgiving — has been impressed with Cosby’s recent transformation.
“Mr. Cosby has regular and in-depth discussions about getting better nutrition for the residents and getting them on natural supplements because the residents and officers have major health problems,” Wyatt said. “Every morning a message comes over telling residents to line up for their insulin shots. These are young — 20, 30, and 40-year-old — men.”
Wyatt said that Cosby is particularly worried that prisoners and the guards are having to subsist on fatty, salty provisions behind bars. He is currently incarcerated at SCI Phoenix in Skippack Township, Pa.
He said Cosby is “so concerned with the high obesity rate, not just with the residents, but the officers because they’re having to survive off of the prison food, too.”
Cosby’s lawyers are hoping to overturn his conviction and recent sentence, calling for three to 10 years in prison. The Associated Press reports that Cosby’s lawyers cite “a string of trial errors” as a reason why the punishment is punitive.
Cosby’s defense team has also claimed that Judge Steven O’Neil, who presided over the case, should not have declared him to be a “sexually violent predator.” And they also cite that Cosby’s sentence was too harsh considering the fact that two to three years is standard, and Cosby turned 81 in July and is legally blind.
Wyatt told the News that Cosby is doing good deeds while awaiting his appeal.
“He’s doing great. He knows he shouldn’t be there, but he’s focused,” Wyatt said.
