Broderick Lloyd Laswell says he isn't happy that he's trimmed down to 308 pounds (23 stones) after eight months in the Benton County jail. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn't provide inmates with enough food.

According to the suit, Laswell weighed 413 pounds when he was jailed in September 2007. Police say he and a co-defendant fatally beat and stabbed a man, then set his home on fire.

In his complaint, Laswell asserts that he is not doing enough exercise to warrant his drastic weight loss. He claims that even short bursts of physical activity leave him with blurred vision and the feeling that he is about to pass out. His suit states “the only reason we lost weight is because we are literally being starved to death”.

Jail Captain Hunter Petray told The Morning News of northwest Arkansas that all inmates’ meals are provided by Aramark Correctional Institution Services and contain an average of 3,000 calories per day, about the average for a man eating a conventional Western diet. However, no hot meals are on offer to the Benton County prisoners – the jail has only served cold meals in recent years.