NEW YORK — Italian con man Raffaello Follieri, who went from dating actress Anne Hathaway to serving a prison term for fraud, isn't enjoying the "unspeakably unsanitary" conditions at a federal jail in Brooklyn.

Follieri's lawyer sent a letter to a judge this week complaining about the facility.

"Mr. Follieri reports that he is in a windowless dormitory with approximately 120 other men," the letter said. "He says that he cannot eat because the food appears to be spoiled and that the toilet and shower facilities are unspeakably unsanitary. e.g., there is excrement in the shower and rats are roaming freely in the area. He says the stench is intolerable."

The lawyer, Flora Edwards, said things are so bad, it has made Follieri ill. So far he has had a fever, blood in his urine, intestinal problems and shortness of breath.

Edwards asked the judge to have the 30-year-old transferred back to the federal jail in Manhattan where he was previously held.

The judge asked the government to look into Follieri's complaints.

Follieri was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison in October. He pleaded guilty to cheating investors out of millions of dollars by falsely claiming he had Vatican connections that enabled him to buy church property at a discount.

The proceeds supported a playboy lifestyle that included a US$37,000-a-month Manhattan apartment and lavish vacations with Hathaway. The couple dated for four years.