Anne Hathaway's ex sick in filthy jail: lawyer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Raffaello Follieri, the Italian businessman who dated actress Anne Hathaway, says his health has deteriorated because of "unspeakably unsanitary" jail conditions and wants to be moved.

Follieri, 30, once enjoyed a lavish globe-trotting lifestyle and dated Hathaway for four years before he was arrested in June for lying about ties to the Vatican for a real estate scheme.

Since he was sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison for fraud last month, he has had to contend with rotten food, foul odors and unclean toilets and as result is running a fever and has blood in his urine, according to a letter from his lawyer made available on Wednesday.

"He says that he cannot eat because the food appears to be spoiled and that the toilet and shower facilities are unspeakably unsanitary," the letter from Flora Edwards said.

"There is excrement in the shower and rats are roaming freely in the area. He says the stench is intolerable," the letter continued.

Follieri has been held in a windowless dormitory with 120 other men. Edwards requested he be moved to a different jail while awaiting transfer to a prison.

Follieri pleaded guilty last month to profiting $2.4 million from a scheme that exaggerated Vatican ties to mislead investors, including California supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle, into thinking he could buy the Catholic Church's real estate at cheaper prices.

Hathaway, who starred in "The Devil Wears Prada," has said she was shocked when Follieri was arrested.

A spokesman for the jail could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Daniel Trotta and Vicki Allen)