Todd Chrisley Talks 'Filthy' Prison, Including Animals in the Food and Photos of Him Sleeping

As the reality star approaches one year of incarceration for financial crimes, he claims inmates hatched a $2,600 per month blackmail scheme against him and that guards are trying to "humble" him

Todd Chrisley says his time behind bars has been less than comfortable — alleging blackmail, expired food, and a team of employees who want to “humble him.”

“There was a photograph taken of me while I was sleeping and sent to my daughter, asking for $2,600 dollars a month for my protection,” the Chrisley Knows Best star alleged in his first-ever prison interview with News Nation.

“There are recordings of staff members here talking about, 'He needs to be humbled,'” he added, alleging someone said, “‘He thinks he’s in one of his mansions that he’s used to living in. But this is the f—ing BOP. That’s what he’ll need.’”

Todd’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, has been outspoken throughout the year about poor conditions in both Todd and mom Julie Chrisley’s federal prisons. Todd followed up on Savannah’s claims, including black mold in the institution, and alleging food served to inmates is expired.

Related: Savannah Chrisley Is 'Sobbing' as Court Decision Means She Is 'One Step Closer to Getting Mom and Dad Home'

“It is so disgustingly filthy. The food is literally, I’m not exaggerating — the food is dated and it’s out of date by, at minimum, a year,” he said. “It’s a year past expiration. And they are literally starving these men to death here. These men are getting — I don’t know — they are getting a thousand calories a day.”

Instead of eating the free meals, Chrisley uses his own money to pay for groceries from the commissary. However, even this has been sabotaged, he claimed, pointing to an unnamed employee for the reason he’s short on groceries.

“I’ve been told this by a staff member — one of the ways she’s trying to break me is by cutting down what you can buy in commissary,” he said. “So, before she came here, you could buy 12 packs of tuna a week. She cut it down to six, and from six it went to three. She had not given a reason — when I asked her about it, she said commissary is a privilege, not a right.”

Related: Savannah Chrisley Says There's Been 'Retaliation' Against Dad Todd in Prison After Public Advocacy

Todd’s meals are simple now. “I eat tuna, I eat peanut butter — that’s where I get protein. I eat, like, a pasta salad that I make. And then I start over again doing the same thing the next week.”

Even though he’s found ways around the food system, Todd claimed the quality of all has been compromised by living and dead animals. “You’ve got rats, you’ve got squirrels in the storage facility where the food is,” he claimed. “They just covered it up with plastic and then tore the ceiling out because of all the black mold and found a dead cat in the ceiling, and it dropped down on the top of the food.”

Todd is serving 12 years at the federal prison after a jury convicted him and Julie of a multimillion dollar bank fraud and tax evasion scheme. Julie is serving seven years in a Kentucky federal prison. Both will continue to serve 16 months of probation following their sentences. The couple has already appealed their sentences, and in late November, they received a small win. The courts agreed to hear oral arguments for the appeal, Savannah confirmed on her podcast.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Pensacola Federal Prison Camp for comment.

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