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Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino Says Fyre Festival Founder Made A 'Bonehead Move' In Prison
The “Jersey Shore” star and Billy McFarland were both incarcerated at the same federal prison for a time.
One month after his release from federal prison, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is telling all about his experience behind bars, including what it was like to live in the same facility as other well-known prisoners like Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland.
Sorrentino, 37, spilled all during an interview released Thursday with the “It’s Happening with Snooki & Joey” podcast, hosted by his “Jersey Shore” castmate Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and makeup artist Joey Camasta.
While Sorrentino was still incarcerated, his “Jersey Shore” castmates revealed that he and McFarland were in the same prison. Speaking to Polizzi and Camasta this week, Sorrentino explained that he and the con man didn’t interact much during their time locked up — especially considering that McFarland was thrown into solitary confinement for breaking the rules, Sorrentino claimed.
“He supposedly smuggled in some sort of recording device … and he was caught with it,” he recalled. “They said he was trying to record high-profile inmates and they threw him in the SHU [solitary housing unit], and then they sent him to a worse prison, I think, recently.”
“That’s a bonehead move right there,” he continued. “I don’t even know why he’d even be recording in there. Maybe he was trying to write a book or something.”
Sorrentino said that he’d occasionally see McFarland “in passing,” and went on to describe him as “very quiet” and “reserved.”
“He would say ‘hi,’ but I would say he wasn’t in my group of friends. I played against him in basketball and softball maybe, but then he was thrown out of the prison... " he explained.
Officials decided to transfer McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year sentence, to a higher security prison after the alleged incident with the recording device, The Daily Beast reports, citing unnamed sources. In the interim, he was reportedly kept in the SHU, a small room that receives very little sunlight during the 23 hours a day inmates are kept inside of it, former inmates told the outlet.
Aside from McFarland, Sorrentino was also locked up with another famous man: Michael Cohen, who he met on Cohen’s first day inside.
“He was a bit nervous,” he said in regards to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer. He added later, “I was there for like three or four months, and I’m like, ‘Listen, bro, I’m going to need you to do something for me. … I’m going to need you to smuggle chicken from the main line and give it to me, I'm going to hide it in my locker, so that I can have an extra serving after my workout.’”
Cohen agreed with the plan, but ultimately did not follow through, according to Sorrentino.
The reality TV star, who also revealed that he’s in the process of writing a tell-all book about his prison experiences, served eight months at the Otisville Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York for tax evasion. He was released on Sept. 12.
Following his release, Sorrentino, who is currently a cast member on MTV’s “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation,” was grateful to be reunited with his wife, Lauren, with whom he tied the knot last November.
“Oh my God, to be a free man, to be honest with you, it’s awesome,” he said to Entertainment Tonight during his first post-prison interview. “It’s fantastic. I have my beautiful wife next to me. I’m healthy, I’m sober, back at work with my best friends on the number one show on MTV and just living the dream."
