Selling Drugs From Jail?

USA TODAY State corrections officials are linking networks of corrupt prison employees to thousands of illicit cellphones being smuggled to inmates in the nation's largest prison systems, according to the officials and public records.

The workers, including guards, cooks and clerical workers, represent the most troubling source of the prohibited phones in an increasingly lucrative smuggling operation that also includes criminal gangs and prisoners' family members, state officials say.

"It's only getting worse," says Texas prisons Inspector General John Moriarty.

Prison employees earn $500 or more for each of the phones, which have become ubiquitous from minimum security camps to death row, says Richard Subia, California's deputy director of adult prisons.

Subia says inmates use the phones to keep drugs flowing into the prisons, facilitate escapes and direct criminal activity on the outside.

The problem may be most acute in California, the nation's largest prison system, where there is no criminal law — only prison regulations — directly prohibiting the smuggling of cellphones to inmates.

Last year, 300 employees were disciplined for suspected cellphone trafficking to inmates; about 100 workers were dismissed. An additional 150 employees have been disciplined this year. In one 2009 case, Subia says, a guard confessed to earning $100,000 in kickbacks during one 12-month period.

Because there is no criminal law, the guard resigned and could not be forced to return the money, Subia says. Last year, California prison officials confiscated 6,995 phones, up from 2,800 in 2008.

Way cool guys!...NOT. So your telling me that there inmates are still running drugs around the country! That probably the reason why most of them are in there in the first place. Do the guards realize what they are doing when they pass cell phones around? I mean I guess being a prison guard doesn't pay well. I can see where $100,000 would come in handy for just handing out a few cell phones. But the people are getting caught aren't really getting in trouble. They should have to pay that to the state or maybe even spend some time in jail themselves. Its the principal of the thing!!

These inmates are probably in the best position possible. They are making money and still protected from the other dealers because they are in jail. 

All I know is there need to be a stop to this and it needs to be done NOW!!