The prison service economy
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The prison service economy is John Kiriakou's account of the trade that ran alongside the food economy at FCI Loretto: "there was plenty of room for entrepreneurs."

The trades

One man made a decent living reselling other prisoners' used shoes, old pairs no longer worn, or shoes offloaded by men about to be released, taking a commission on each sale; Kiriakou bought two pairs from him. Others ran convenience stores out of their lockers, selling sodas, sweets and crisps at a standard thirty per cent markup, the same margin as the commissary itself.

There were a dozen bookmakers at Loretto, a good friend of his the most successful of them, and some prisoners made thousands of dollars a month from gambling, the wise ones sending it home to build a nest egg for release. Others repaired radios, did unofficial and unlicensed chiropractic work, or sold underwear, socks and t-shirts stolen from the laundry.

The currency

The unit of account was the book of postage stamps, which sold at the commissary for $8.20 and traded inside at a flat seven dollars. Kiriakou explains the preference in practical terms: unlike seven bags of mackerel stacked one on another, a book of stamps is small, easy to hide and easy to spend.

He is explicit about what the most enterprising prisoners sold for that currency, including sexual services with a published price list, and records one man selling his "turnkey business" and its dozen clients for sixty-five books of stamps.

His own position

Kiriakou did not participate. Prison work paid him $1.08 a month, which he banked, relying on family and friends for anything he needed, though he adds that had he needed capitalism in prison, it was there.

The same economy explains what was on the plate. Kitchen workers stole chicken, beef and pork to order for customers whose families then transferred $100 to $150 a month into the cook's commissary account, which for everyone else meant "chickenless chicken pot pie", hot dogs instead of roast beef and sloppy joes instead of pork loin, almost none of it human-grade food.

See also

- FCI Loretto
- The prison food economy
- The prison commissary
- The Italians at Loretto
