Famed music producer/convicted killer Phil Spector is moving into a new prison this week, but not because he wants to. According to the Associated Press, a California Department of Corrections spokeswoman said Spector is being transferred to the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, Calif. to make room for other inmates at his old prison, already at double its capacity.

Last month Spector, currently serving 19 years to life for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson, reportedly wrote a letter to a pal saying he was trying to get to "a better prison." Since June the 69-year-old has lived in the "sensitive needs yard" of the maximum-security California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. Despite being admitted to a sector that avoids exposure to gangs due to his notoriety, Spector still complained of the "gangsters and Manson types" at the 6,000-plus capacity penitentiary. After prison officials caught wind of the letter, Spector was interviewed and retracted the fear for his safety implied in the letter. However, Spector is still moving.

"It's not about Spector. It's about getting services to other inmates," the spokeswoman told the AP. Although the Pleasant Valley State Prison is a security level down from the Corcoran facility, Spector is apparently trying to appeal the move.

"They are sending Phil there to die," Spector's wife and former Playboy model, Rachelle, told the New York Post in a Page Six bit that ran yesterday. Spector's new home behind bars is apparently notorious for a deadly fungus called valley fever, which resides as a mold in the soil and then break off into airborne spores. "He is scared to death. When I saw him on Saturday, he was shaking ... He's 70 years old and 130 pounds ... We are trying to appeal over this, but he's been told he has no time. He's already been given his bus pass out of Corcoran."

Moral of the story: Don't shoot people.