Prison Hustle Never Stops: Mackenzie Shirilla's Jailhouse Side Gig

It turns out that conviction and incarceration didn’t slow down Mackenzie Shirilla’s entrepreneurial spirit. According to Kat Crowder, a former inmate who spent six months locked up alongside her, Shirilla found creative — and surprisingly resourceful — ways to turn a profit while serving time.

The operation was surprisingly straightforward. Crowder tells TMZ that Shirilla used an arts kit to craft handmade goods: custom jewelry, nose rings, bracelets, and decorated shoes. Then came the business model. Shirilla allegedly let people know they could purchase these items through Cash App, essentially running a micro-economy from inside prison walls. In jail slang, Crowder referred to the platforms Shirilla was active on as“sugar daddy websites,”though she clarifies that label was more colloquial than literal.

What’s particularly noteworthy is that Shirilla, convicted on multiple murder-related charges and sentenced to prison after prosecutors said she drove nearly 100 MPH into a brick wall killing boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan, managed to maintain an online presence and financial activity while incarcerated. That level of connectivity raises questions about how she maintained access to digital platforms and payment systems inside a correctional facility.

Crowder speculates that Shirilla may no longer be using those sites now that public attention has intensified — though she wouldn’t be shocked if the notoriety actually drew more interest. The speculation seems reasonable, especially given that Shirilla recently pushed back against public perception in Netflix’s“The Crash,”where she insisted she’s not a monster. It’s a curious contradiction: maintaining a public-facing online business while simultaneously trying to rehabilitate her public image.

The story underscores a broader reality about modern incarceration: digital access and personal networking don’t simply disappear behind bars. Whether it reveals a gap in prison security, Shirilla’s resourcefulness, or simply the reality of how connected even inmates remain to the outside world, it’s a striking detail in an already complex case.