Multiple cell phones found in TX prison

AUSTIN (KXAN) - According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Office of Inspector General is investigating after 21 cell phones and other contraband were discovered at Beaumont’s Stiles Prison.

TDCJ has been focusing on the on-going problem of prison contraband after death row inmate Richard Tabler accused an officer of smuggling a cell phone into prison. The cell phone was discovered in his prison cell in October 2008. Tabler made a threatening call to state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston using that cell phone. It was among some 2,800 calls that were traced to the phone. The calls prompted a lockdown of the nation's second-largest corrections system for weeks while officers combed more than 100 prisons for contraband.

More than 100 phones, 100 phone chargers and nearly 200 weapons were confiscated in the initial sweep. Other phones and phone components are still being discovered, including the 21 cell phones, 21 cell phone chargers, 14 SIM cards, two MP3 players with accessories, and eight bags of loose tobacco which were discovered Tuesday. The on-going investigation has not yet uncovered how the illegal items were transported into the prison.

In December 2008, the Office of the Inspector General of TDCJ had investigated at least 62 cases of employees accused of smuggling contraband into the Texas prison system from Jan. 7, 2007 to Nov. 18, 2008. According to information obtained using the Texas Open Records Act, that investigation included at least 21 cases involving cell phones, three involving alcohol, 21 involving drugs, 51 instances involving tobacco and 12 other types or undefined instances. Some employees were investigated for involvement with these several types of contraband. Updated investigative data has not been made available by TDCJ.

A Beaumont prison guard was arrested on the job in February 2009 for trying to smuggle marijuana and cell phones into the Stiles Unit. Eric J. Talmore, 24, was caught with the three phones and the bag of drugs hidden in a rice container when he set off a metal detector walking into the building, officials said. The guards ran the container through the X-ray machine and spotted the contraband. A further search of the employee uncovered packs of tobacco taped to his waist and feet, according to Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ spokesperson.

He was arrested immediately and charged with introducing contraband into a penal institution, a class C felony.