Meatless 'loaf' in Va. jail sickening sniper suspect

Guardian says Malvo wants vegetarian meals

Associated Press

December 19, 2002

FAIRFAX, Va. - Sniper suspect and vegetarian John Lee Malvo says he is getting sick from eating the jail's meatless loaf, which is usually served to inmates for disciplinary reasons.

For the past two weeks, the Fairfax County jail has been serving the 17-year-old Malvo "the loaf," a hodgepodge of flour, raisins, carrots, potatoes and other ingredients baked into brown cakes.

Malvo's court-appointed guardian, Todd Petit, said Malvo has suffered swelling, diarrhea and other health problems since being placed on the diet. Petit wrote a letter this week asking Sheriff Stan Barry to provide Malvo with vegetarian meals that are in accord with Malvo's Muslim beliefs.

Malvo "has developed some sort of reaction" to the loaf, Petit said. "They use the loaf as a disciplinary tool, but he has not been a discipline problem."

It was after Petit complained that the meat served at the jail was not halal, or prepared in a manner prescribed by Muslim teachings, that Malvo's jailers began serving him vegetarian meals. They later switched to the loaf.

Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Tyler Corey said he would not comment on a specific inmate's case. But he said the jail does not consider the loaf a punishment. He said it is served when inmates are placed into segregated units for disciplinary reasons, or if an inmate requests it.

"I would say it tastes like meatloaf. It's not that bad. It's actually palatable," Corey said, adding that it "will meet all of your nutritional needs."

Authorities have linked Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 41, to 19 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington. Both are charged with capital murder.

Loaves have become an increasingly popular form of discipline in jails and prisons across the country, and have prompted some lawsuits.

In Pennsylvania prisons, a breakfast loaf contains prunes, eggs, toast, hash browns, bacon and orange juice. Texas calls its version food loaf, a breadlike substance made up of the previous day's leftovers.