Here’s proof that only the good die young.
Meet Theodore Sypnier, the oldest inmate in New York. The geriatric jailbird celebrated his 100th birthday in upstate Groveland Correctional Facility in May and has spent most of his 90s in prison after pleading guilty to attempted sodomy of a child.
Sypnier said he is treated no differently than the spring chickens behind bars with him. He catches Z’s in a standard prison bed, wears a two-piece forest-green uniform and chows down on regular mess-hall slop.
“It’s probably just as bad as being the youngest . . . You just count the days until you’re out,” Sypnier told The Post in a prison interview last week.
The centenarian is to be paroled in November, but until then he is one of 31 state inmates over age 80.
Bald, liver-spotted and sporting thick glasses, Sypnier began his most recent stretch in July 2008 after violating parole.
In 1999, at age 90, he was charged with 15 counts of sexually abusing five girls in his Tonawanda home.
His prison is a medium-security facility, without cells, so Sypnier sleeps on a small cot in a dorm-like room with other inmates.
He has a hearty appetite and gets three meals a day in the mess hall.
“Whatever they’re serving — pancakes, scrambled eggs sometimes,” he said.
The secret to his longevity, Sypnier said, is loading up on vegetables and nuts.
“If you put a can of nuts in front of me this high,” he said, lifting his hands up to his neck, “I’ll eat right through it.”
Sypnier said he keeps to himself, and hasn’t been involved in any fights with fellow prisoners.
His family, including four grown children, has disowned him. His first prison visitor was a Post reporter.