Charles Manson Caught With Cell Phone

[Madeline]

Contraband cellphones are burgeoning among prisoners, giving them the ability to arrange crimes on the outside. Even Charles Manson was caught with one. But it's not illegal for state prisoners to possess the devices.

Reporting from Sacramento — Contraband cellphones are becoming so prevalent in California prisons that guards can't keep them out of the hands of the most notorious and violent inmates: Even Charles Manson, orchestrator of one of the most notorious killing rampages in U.S. history, was caught with an LG flip phone under his prison mattress.

Manson made calls and sent text messages to people in California, New Jersey, Florida and British Columbia before officers discovered the phone, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections.

Asked whether Manson had used the device to direct anyone to commit a crime or to leave a threatening message, Thornton said, "I don't know, but it's troubling that he had a cellphone since he's a person who got other people to murder on his behalf."

Although officials say inmates use smuggled cellphones for all manner of criminal activity, including running drug rings from behind bars, intimidating witnesses and planning escapes, it is not a crime to possess one in a California prison.

In August, President Obama signed a bill banning cellphones from federal prisons and making it a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail, to smuggle one in. That law does not apply to state institutions.

The proliferation of cellphones in California prisons has been exponential in recent years, authorities say. Guards found 1,400 in 2007, when the department began to keep records of confiscations. The number jumped to 6,995 in 2009 and stands at 8,675 so far this year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prison-cellphones-20101203,0,1731644.story?page=1&track=rss

Yikes!

 

[TonyLamentola]

Don't they have signal jammers for cell phones that would make them inoperable or have I been watching to much tv?

 

[Revere]

Don't they have signal jammers for cell phones that would make them inoperable or have I been watching to much tv?

Yeah, they are going to mandate those be installed in automobiles so you can't call 911 from your cell phone after an accident unless you are thrown clear from your car with your cell phone and survive.

If you're in prison, you can use a cell phone until you're caught.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Oregon has a policy that if it doesn't come in through legal channels, it is a felony to have. Even if you are locked up for a misdemeanor. You come into the jail, the only thing you keep on the way in is your glasses. Everything else gets put into your personal property.
And in Multnomah County, they catch you with one, you get isolation.

 

[RadiomanATL]

I'm more curious about who he was calling.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I find it interesting that in our prison system we can't control what comes in and what goes out. It says something about the people running the prisons.

 

[xotoxi]

Yeah, they are going to mandate those be installed in automobiles so you can't call 911 from your cell phone after an accident unless you are thrown clear from your car with your cell phone and survive.

This is the specific reason why I keep my cell phone on my person.

 

[zzzz]

The FCC has jurisdiction of cellphone jamming. All agencies must apply for authorization to use it. Many of the states have applied to the FCC for approval and there are companies out there ready to sell the equipement. When this happens though don't be suprised your cell phone goes out every time you get near a prison or jail. Heck they may even have them in the prison vans, buses, road gangs and who knows where. The solution may cause other problems.

 

[Toome]

Apologies in advance, but in light of the Brett Favre scandal, don't tell me that Manson was texting naked pictures of himself!

Just asking!

 

[High_Gravity]

I'm more curious about who he was calling.

Me too.

 

[bodecea]

I'm more surprised that he knows how to use it....keep in mind, this guy's been locked up since before personal computers, ipods, cell phones, etc.

 

[High_Gravity]

I'm more surprised that he knows how to use it....keep in mind, this guy's been locked up since before personal computers, ipods, cell phones, etc.

I am too but think about it if he was caught with this cell phone hes probably had it for a while and used others in the pass, I guess old Charlie is getting the hook up in prison, he probably knows how to navigate the internet and play the XBOX 360 as well.

 

[blastoff]

They should have let him keep it but made his number public.

 

[random3434]

I think he was trying to dial 867-5309

 

[Madeline]

Apparently, California has a tremendous prison overcrowding problem and thus, there's serious opposition to making any more felonies. Besides, Manson will never get out so WTF would he care if they lengthened his sentence? I agree, jamming signals seems like the best solution.

This is not an isolated problem. There was a federal prisoner caught running an internet con worth millions not long ago, and Speck (mass murdered 8 nurses in Chicago in the 1960's) was video taping talking about his female hormone treatments and drug use in prison, which was very inflamatory.

Sadly, I kinda agree this has to be the guards. Visitors just do not seem likely to me to be smuggling in this much crap.

 

[High_Gravity]

Manson has been in prison for decades right? than who should he have to talk to on a cell phone and via text message? I'm starting to think there are still people out there who follow him and staying underground, otherwise why would he need a cell phone for?