In a united effort, Oklahoma's new attorney general and other top prosecutors nationwide are urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant legal permission to disrupt cellphone signals within state prisons.
According to Attorney General Gentner Drummond, criminal enterprises can operate within prison walls. He emphasized the critical importance of providing law enforcement with the necessary tools to tackle this problem, urging Congress to take swift action.
Drummond joined 21 other attorneys general last week in a letter urging Congress to pass ''meaningful" legislation allowing states to jam cellphones at prisons.
According to the prosecutors, during their discussion with congressional leaders on Wednesday, it was revealed that inmates are utilizing contraband cell phones to coordinate acts of murder, riots, drug deals, fraud, and various other illegal activities. The concerning fact is that these cell phones are still being used without any means to block them, thus posing an active and continuous threat to public safety.
Cellphones used to direct drug rings from inside prisons, DOJ says
As the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled its latest statistics, the urgency to bring about a change in the law has intensified, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation in Oklahoma.
According to a news release issued on Friday, the U.S. attorney from Oklahoma City stated that state inmates associated with four different criminal organizations were able to acquire illicit cell phones while incarcerated. This enabled them to maintain control over their drug trafficking and violent networks by coordinating with their contacts outside the prison walls.
“Now, 275 dangerous criminals have been held accountable, more than a half-ton of poisonous drugs and 393 firearms have been removed from the streets, and $1.3 million in cash has been taken away from drug traffickers," U.S. Attorney Bob Troester said about the results of the drug prosecutions.
The news release discloses that thirty offenders were taken into custody for their participation in drug rings. Remarkably, these individuals were found to be orchestrating the operations, which were often marked by violence, through the use of smuggled cellphones.
Sentenced in December was Eduardo Rosales, a leader of a ring operated by the Southside Locos gang that distributed methamphetamine from Mexico across the state in 2019. Rosales, 37, of Oklahoma City, was already in state prison at the time for drug offenses.
December marked the sentencing of Chance Alan "Wolfhead" Wilson, who was convicted for the murder of his sister. While serving his sentence in state prison, Wilson was discovered to be operating a drug ring. Federal prosecutors have identified Wilson, a 38-year-old individual from Purcell, as a leader within the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang.
Both individuals were given a 30-year federal prison term as part of their sentence.
Thousands of cellphones seized from Oklahoma facilities
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections revealed on Friday that a significant number of 5,247 cellphones were seized within state-run and privately managed correctional facilities during the course of last year.
"Despite the presence of cellphone-detecting K-9 units and nonstop intelligence-gathering efforts, some phones still manage to get through. That is a reality faced at all levels, from county jails to federal prisons," said Josh Ward, chief of communications.
According to court records, it has been discovered that guards have been smuggling cellphones into Oklahoma prisons. Furthermore, these devices have been illicitly transported by either being thrown over prison fences or dropped via drones.
Oklahoma officials have demanded alternative measures to combat contraband cellphones.
In 2019, Governor Kevin Stitt emphasized the significance of finding a technology-based resolution to tackle the issue at hand. This statement came after a series of gang-related fights took place in six prisons, resulting in the imposition of lockdowns.
Communication via contraband cellphones among inmates, as stated by the governor's office, played a crucial role in enabling the "premeditated acts of violence".
In the aforementioned year, U.S. Senator James Lankford expressed his support for states to employ jamming signal technology.
“Why don't we change that law?” Lankford asked on the Senate floor. “Great question. A question that should have been answered by this body a long time ago, but communications companies and cellphone company lobbyists overwhelmed this body and pushed back and say, ‘Let's study the issue.’”
He said he repeatedly met with leaders at the Federal Communications Commission in an effort to resolve the issue. "Each year ... they say, 'We're studying it.'"
FCC opposes cellphone jamming, citing safety concerns
Over an extended period, the FCC has consistently been against the inclusion of jamming wifi technology within state prisons.
The FCC has stated that it results in more problems than it solves. Furthermore, it has the ability to interfere with mobile 911 calls and public safety communication.
Lankford joined as a cosponsor for the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act in August, but despite his efforts, the bill never made it to a vote and eventually expired.
Last week, Lankford tweeted about the urgency of states acquiring the authority to jam signals.
The FCC introduced a mechanism in 2021 that permits designated prison officials to request wireless providers to deactivate cell signals, one by one, without the involvement of a court order.