Phil Spector Fighting Prison Illness: 'He's Been Unable To Speak For Nine Months'

Phil Spector has reportedly lost the ability to speak and is in poor condition while serving a 19-years-to-life sentence in California.

The Daily Mirror states "Spector's health has deteriorated close to a crisis point."

The 74-year-old producer (he's responsible for The Beatles' Let It Be, among several other classic projects) shot and killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2007 and was convicted and sentenced two years later.

But life in prison has apparently put Spector in pretty frail condition.

"He was moved within the last year to a new prison hospital in Stockton," Spector's lawyer, Chuck Sevilla, said. "He's very frail.

"I believe he is able to walk, he's lost a lot of weight, he's been unable to speak for nine months due to polyps in his throat which they keep telling him they're going perform surgery on, which they have not done. That's just one of his many maladies. He's in his 70s and he was not in the best condition going in."

Sevilla makes his client out to be a lame duck in the California prison system.

"I'm in regular communication with him about this," Sevilla said. "The prison won't give information about his medical condition. We are trying to get his needs attended to. I will be writing the warden today to try and get that done. Can you imagine being in a prison and you need help and you can't speak? It's very dangerous.

"It's entirely a decision of the CDC (California Department of Corrections). He certainly needs to be in a functioning hospital setting."

Spector does have a silver lining, though. His wife, Rachelle, obtained her pilot's license and makes routine visits to see her husband.

"I believe that's true," Sevilla said. "She's very devoted. She's been his lifeline to the outside for the years he's been in custody, I give her major kudos for all that she's done."

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