60-Year Sentence for Posessing a Cellphone in Prison

A prisoner has been sentenced to an additional 60-years in prison after a court found him guilty of possessing a mobile phone inside the prison facility. In the case, the Texas jury determined the punishment, and after finding Coffield Unit inmate guilty, they passed the 60 year sentence, to be added to his existing punishment.

According to The Palestine Herald, Derrick Ross was stopped inside the prison in March 2007 by an officer who thought he was acting suspiciously. According to the officer, Ross then tried run and dispose of a package, which was later recovered and found to contain the forbidden mobile phone.

A sentence of 60 years is one of the highest sentences in the state that has been handed down by a jury for possession of a cell phone in prison, and significantly greater than the average 2-10 years handed out to habitual offenders.

Texas has been particularly sensitive to the issue of cell phones being taken into prisons after the death row inmate, Richard Lee Tabler was able to make threatening phone calls to State Senator, John Whitmire using a phone phone that had been smuggeled into the prison.

On the web: The Palestine Herald

Posted to the site on 17th May 2009