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Prison officials say many of them are used to plan deadly crimes
but the state of Texas has a plan of its own to silence cell phones
and beat criminals at their own game
The I-Team's Brian New has the story:
Inside, they are not allowed.
Yet investigators have found them in juice cans
books, even inside this air compressor
"They're quite creative" And then there was this one -
"We have a photograph of an x-ray of an offender that has the phone inside him."
In Texas prisons last year, more than 800 cell phones were confiscated.
117 were discovered inside the walls of the "Mineral Wells" prison --
the most at any facility
"Because of all these cell phones
we realized quickly that we needed to be able to get into those cell phones
and extract the information."
And so, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice created a forensics lab just for cellphones
Here they are treated as evidence, and when attached to readers and sophisticated software --
every call, every text, every picture that was taken on the phone -- can be extracted
"We have invested heavily in equipment
to get everything we can off the cell phones."
But by then It's often too late.
The "Raza Unida" prison gang used smuggled cell phones
to traffic drugs, organize home invasion, even put hits out on witnesses
Inmate David Puckett used a cell phone to plan his escape
And death-row inmate, Richard Tabler, used a cell phone to call state senator, John Whitmire.
"He started threatening me and my family to have us killed, well...
That gets my attention."
Last month the state started testing equipment
that blocks calls from all unauthorized phones.
Texas inspector, Bruce Tody, says that it's working
"However, the manage access system runs over a million dollar per facility."
"So what, puclic safety costs money? Then I can't think of a better use."
But Whitmire's colleagues in Austin have yet to approve the more than
100 million dollars that it would cost to put the system in every Texas prison.
Thus, for now, keeping phones on the inside
more valuable than drugs
and as dangerous as any weapon.
With the I-Team, Brian New, CBS 11 News.
Senator Whitmire says the problem with contraband cell phones is one reason
he is pushing to close down the Mineral Wells Facility.
It could happen as early as August