Title: Mobile phones in prison - Wikipedia
Headings: Mobile phones in prison
Mobile phones in prison
Contents
Reasons cell phones are prohibited
Methods of smuggling
Uses by prisoners
Combating mobile phones in prisons
References
External links

Content: Uses by prisoners
While some prisoners use their mobile devices simply for harmless communication or web browsing, others use them for illegal activity. These may include gang control, taunting witnesses, planning escapes, or arrangement of other serious crimes. Prisoners may also use smart phones to gather intelligence on prison staff and to coordinate clandestine activity within the facility. Federal prosecutors charged five South Carolina prisoners with conning at least 442 service members out of a total of more than half a million dollars in November 2018. Two other South Carolina prisoners, John William Dobbins and Carl Richard Smith await trial for multiple scams operated using contraband cell phones out of Lee Correctional Institution, including one catfishing scam that ended in the suicide of army veteran Jared Johns. Not all inmates use mobile phones for harmful purposes. Many inmates use them to hold innocuous conversations with family and friends. In South Carolina in September 2012, an inmate using an illegal mobile phone alerted authorities about an officer being held hostage, leading to that officer's rescue. Combating mobile phones in prisons
Laws have been passed in various jurisdictions, placing penalties on inmates who possess mobile devices as well as staff who smuggle them in. Inmate penalties range from loss of privileges and behavior credits to additional sentencing.