- A woman who pleaded guilty to partaking in the
Capitol riot is preparing for prison. Jenna Ryan told Insider she's been researching what life is like behind bars.
A Capitol rioter who flew to Washington, DC, on a private jet said she's preparing for her 60 days behind bars by learning prison slang and speaking to prison consultants.
Jenna Ryan was last month sentenced to 60 days in a Texas prison after pleading guilty to a single federal misdemeanor charge of parading in the Capitol, according to court documents seen by Insider.
Ryan, a realtor who lives in Dallas, Texas, is due to go to a minimum-security federal prison in north Texas sometime after January 3, she told Insider. She said she hasn't been designated a specific facility yet.
To prepare herself for life behind bars, Ryan said she's been reading books, doing online research, and watching YouTube videos about prison.
"I've been doing a lot of reading and research lately ... I now know that the general rules are, you don't talk to anybody. You watch out who you talk to. You don't ask anybody what they did. It's just a totally different world," she said.
"But since I'm also a life coach, I can imagine that I'll end up making some pretty genuine connections while I'm there."
Ryan said she plans on losing weight in prison because she thinks she will be served "the worst food imaginable." In a TikTok posted over the weekend, she said she wants to practice yoga and detox from alcohol.
She told Insider she mostly wants to "hunker down" and "keep to herself" while she's there, and if possible, "borrow books from the library."
"I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I'm going to be probably in a little lockdown area with what I would assume will be a 'bunkie' — I'm learning all this new terminology," she said. (A "bunkie" is prison slang for a roommate.)
On top of her own research, Ryan said she's also been speaking to prison consultants, who she said have reassured her that her sentence will go by quickly.
Despite all her preparations, Ryan told Insider she still worries about the condition of the prison and her safety.
"I've watched all these videos about minimum-security prison, and the main concern is not the other inmates but that you're treated very, very cruelly by the guards," she said. "I'm going to be treated poorly for 48 days. I may have people that try to run hustles on me, try to trick me."
Ryan is among a small number of Capitol riot defendants who have pleaded guilty and has previously expressed remorse for her actions on January 6.
She told Insider she doesn't regret attending the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the insurrection, but said she "shouldn't have gone" into the Capitol.
More than anything, she said she hopes to move past January 6 and get on with her life.
"I cannot wait to go [to prison], really. Because the sooner I can get in, the sooner I can get out," she said.