Bill Cosby Cracks Jokes 'All Day Long' in Prison, Former Inmates Say

Inside Edition spoke to former inmates who came to know the disgraced comedian in prison.

Bill Cosby spends his days behind bars making the other inmates laugh, according to two men who came to know him in prison.

Raheem Shackleford and Don Jones met the disgraced comedian at Phoenix State Correctional Institution in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where he's serving a three- to 10-year sentence for sexual assault.

"Does he crack jokes?" asked Inside Edition's Les Trent as he spoke to the men exclusively.

"All day long, all day long," said Shackleford. "As soon as he exits the cell or off the unit, he's just Bill Cosby. He's nothing different."

Cosby was convicted of three counts of indecent assault in April 2018 and started his sentence in September. When he first arrived, he caused a stir, the former inmates said.

Jones explained, "When he first got there the guards was a little ..."

"Starstruck?" Trent asked.

"They were a little starstruck," said Jones. "They were."

But the men said Cosby, now known as inmate NN7687, gets no special treatment.

"He's just a person convicted and he's serving his time. Nobody bothers him, nobody threatens him," said Shackleford.

Jones, who was released from the prison last week after serving time for murder and robbery, described an average day for Cosby, who is in a wheelchair most of the time.

"He come out about 7 o'clock, push him down to the chow hall, eat his meal, come back to the block, watch TV, go to the gym or yard if he want to, which he never do," Jones said.

Cosby is also legally blind.

"He said to me, 'I did not know you were speaking to me because I am a man unsighted,'" Shackleford said. "... He's looking right at me, and I'm like, 'A man unsighted?' So he said, 'Yeah, that means I cannot see.'"

Shackleford, who got out a few weeks ago after serving 21 years for murder and robbery, recalled the first time he spoke to Cosby.

"I said, 'How are you, Mr. Cosby?' And he said, 'I'm rather fine.' So I said, 'How they treating you back there?' He said, 'First-class service,'" Shackleford said. "He keeps his humor."

On Tuesday, a lower court judge rejected Cosby's argument that his trial was unfair, opening the way for his appeal to be heard by a higher court in Pennsylvania.

Watch Inside Edition on Friday for more of the exclusive interview. Check here for local listings.

RELATED STORIES