Disgraced former Enron chief Jeffrey Skilling will still make money while serving his more than 24-year sentence for fraud and other crimes in a low-level federal prison in Minnesota. But at 12-cents an hour, it's a far cry from the reported $40 million he once raked in as top dog of America's energy industry.
When Skilling reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca, Minn., at 12:07 p.m. Wednesday, he traded a life of caviar and motocross for fish sandwiches and twin bunk beds.
"Once he arrived, he would have undergone a security search," said Felicia Ponce, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. "They do a medical intake interview. Our psychology services will interview him and then they have a case management review.
"At that point, he's given his quarters and his bed assignment," she said. "And shortly thereafter he participates, like, in an admissions and orientation program."
Skilling's new digs in the dormitory-style residence include roommates — he'll likely have three — and a bunk bed in an approximately 95.5-square-foot room with a window.
At Waseca, he'll be expected to work five days a week for anywhere from 12 cents to 40 cents an hour as possibly ... an orderly.
"They are groundskeepers, food-service worker, a warehouse worker, an orderly," said Ponce describing the prison's various on-site job openings. "Maybe a plumber or a painter."
The once high-powered executive will have to get used to being ordered around.
At 6 a.m. he'll rise and dine on a breakfast of fruit, milk, cereal and coffee. He'll report for work detail at 7:35 a.m. and work until about 11 a.m. when he'll break a lunch of chips, veggies, fruit and a fish sandwich, Ponce said.
After lunch, he'll be expected to work till 3:30 p.m. and make headcount at 4. Then it's off to a 4:30 dinner. A typical menu includes baked chicken, soup, bread and fruit washed down with a fruit drink, Ponce said. He'll return to his room by 8:30 p.m.
If he longs for a treat, Skilling will be able to spend his hard-earned cents at the prison commissary: on snacks, as well as toiletries and stamps.
Those toiletries will come in handy in the communal bathroom, where he'll bathe, pee and shave.
Skilling will likely learn a lot from his new roomies.
Most of the inmates in this low-level facility 75 miles south of Minneapolis are serving time for drug-related offenses, Ponce said. Between 150 and 275 inmates live in each housing unit, with about 1,070 prisoners currently serving time in the facility.
If he longs for the past, Skilling will be able to relive his adventure days on the facility's stationary bicycle or basketball court or in the indoor-outdoor walking area. If he needs spiritual solace, there's a chapel service; if he gets lonesome for knowledge, the Harvard Business School grad can read in the inmate library.
Visitors are allowed on Friday afternoons from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., as well as on Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays.
And visitors will find the imprisoned Skilling taking to his new world like it's casual Friday.
His prison uniform is khaki, Ponce said.
"A pair of pants," she said. "And a khaki, like, button-down shirt."
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