Cell Phone Update

Texas Death Row Inmate Writes Letter of threatens To Senator Whitmire The Associated Press: Texas death row inmate threatens senator again-Texas death row inmate threatens senator again-20 hours ago

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A death row inmate who allegedly threatened a legislator from a smuggled cell phone last month now has sent a letter threatening the same lawmaker, authorities said.

Prison investigators said Thursday that they received a letter this week from Richard Lee Tabler, 29, containing threats against state Sen. John Whitmire.

"I take this very seriously," Whitmire, who chairs a committee that oversees prison operations, told the Austin American-Statesman. "I am very concerned for my family and will take the necessary precautions. "

A statewide lockdown of the system began last month after Tabler allegedly made threatening calls to Whitmire and shared his illegal cell phone with at least nine inmates.

Investigators determined the phone was used to make about 2,800 calls from inside the prison. During the lockdown, a dozen other cell phones were found on death row, authorities said.

Tabler has been upset about the arrests of his mother and his sister in connection with the investigation into how he obtained a cell phone, said John Moriarty, inspector general for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Tabler's letter also included threats against Austin American-Statesman reporter Mike Ward, who broke the story about the smuggled cell phone, Moriarty said.

"Let's see you put the (expletive) senator and Mike Ward in protective custody for their (expletive) lies," states a copy of the letter shown to the newspaper.

Moriarty said there is "minimal" likelihood that Tabler, convicted of gunning down a strip club manager and another man in 2004, could carry out his threats.

Meanwhile, prison officials reported that they found another cell phone, a makeshift weapon and what appeared to be marijuana in the cell of another death row inmate just hours after the lockdown ended Wednesday.

The items were hidden in a sock in inmate Mark Stroman's cell, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said.

During the lockdown, guards had found 12 cell phones, nine chargers, three cell phone batteries and two weapons in the death row area alone, Lyons said.

Whitmire says threats are making Death Row safer TDTNews.com - Temple Daily Telegram www.tdtnews.com

Saturday | November 15, 2008

Convicted killer threatens reporter, senator in letter by Paul A. Romer Published: November 15, 2008

The soap opera that is Richard Tabler continues to get messages out from death row even though his cell phone has been confiscated.

This week the message came in letter form.

Tabler, convicted of two murders in Bell County, made an indirect threat to a reporter and a state senator in a letter he sent to the official in charge of the investigation of how cell phones ended up in the hands of death row inmates.

"I took it serious," Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said about the threat. "I'm not worried about him. I'm more worried about who he or the nine guys he let use the phone may know on the outside."

The threat named an Austin reporter and inferred that he and Whitmire may need protection because they played a role in getting his cell phone taken away and having his sister and mother arrested.

Lorraine Tabler and Kristina Martinez were both arrested within days of Oct. 20 when investigators raided Tabler's death row cell as he spoke by phone to the Austin reporter.

Investigators working the cases did a threat assessment of Tabler's letter and rated the threat as "minimal."

"People who are serious about killing people usually don't notify their victims in advance," said John Moriarty, inspector general of the Texas prison system. The letter was an apparent attempt to get officials to back off the investigation of his mother and sister, Moriarty said.

Moriarty confirmed that Tabler, 29, sent the letter but did not reveal the name of the investigator who received it, although a copy of the letter was given to Whitmire.

"I guess (Tabler) didn't care for (the investigator' s) demeanor," Moriarty said. "We paid him a visit and told him that (backing off on the investigation) wasn't going to happen."

No other arrests have been made in the case, although Moriarty said authorities have information that indicates an employee was involved. The information is not enough to bring charges yet.

Meanwhile, phones continue to be confiscated from death row despite prisoners going to great lengths to conceal them. Two phones were discovered this week, including one found in an inmate's rectum on Friday.

On Friday, authorities found two SIM cards hidden in the Bible of Hank Skinner, who has been on death row since 1995 for a triple slaying in Pampa in the Texas Panhandle.

Skinner initially denied having a cell phone so he was taken to an X-ray machine at the Polunsky Unit outside Livingston. The scan found the phone.

On Wednesday, after the more than three-week-long lockdown ended, officials found a cell phone, charger, makeshift weapon and marijuana in the cell of Mark Stroman.

Officials do not believe that the two phones found this week are new to the unit.Stroman's phone did not have a SIM card in it.

"That phone had been moving around," Moriarty said.

It may have belonged to another inmate in a nearby cell where investigators found four SIM cards and a cutout in the back of a book that was just big enough to fit a cell phone.

Moriarty said that during the lockdown, officials found cell phones located in typewriters that had been altered to both conceal and charge the phones.

During the lockdown, officials found 12 cell phones, nine chargers, three batteries and seven SIM cards on death row.

Whitmire said Tabler's antics have helped make Texas' prisons and death row safer. He said he has been telling lawmakers for years that contraband is a serious problem in the Texas prison system.

"He (Tabler) did what I couldn't do," Whitmire said.

Dozens of TDCJ guards caught smuggling contraband Grits for Breakfast: Dozens of guards caught smuggling contraband during TDCJ lockdown GRITS

Grits for Breakfast

Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Dozens of guards caught smuggling contraband during TDCJ lockdown

Yesterday's Senate Criminal Justice Committee hearing began with Chairman John Whitmire questioning Department of Criminal Justice executive director Brad Livingston regarding the recent lockdown targeting cell phones and other contraband.

Livingston said TDCJ has found 132 cell phones so far on 22 units, including another one on death row, with 46 of those found patting down guards on the front end. TDCJ has also found tobacco 87 times during the lockdown, marijuana 25 times. Seven or eight units, said Livingston, accounted for the bulk of the contraband found.

Sen. Whitmire said that contraband is contributing to Texas' prison capacity problem because inmates are assigned thousands of extra years as punishment for contraband that's mostly brought in by guards.

In a debate over why TDCJ hadn't previously patted down guards on their way into prison units, Livingston told Whitmire that, because of the staffing shortage, there had been a concern that it would contribute to an oppressive environment for staff and limit retention. You mean if you found officers smuggling in contraband you'd have to fire them and you couldn't afford to lose that many people, asked Whitmire incredulously?

Livingston backtracked to insist they'd been worried about good staff leaving because they didn't want to be searched, but Whitmire's interpetation is probably closer to the truth. After all, just minutes before Livingston told the senator they'd found 46 employees smuggling cell phones AFTER the lockdown was announced! There's no telling how many more they've lost over tobacco and other items.

Livingston said TDCJ is preparing a package of improvements aimed at reducing contraband smuggling costing about $30 million, including metal detectors and cameras, mostly targeting the top 20 units where contraband has been found.

Well, I don't wear a StetsonBut I'm willing to bet, son, That I'm as big a Texan As you are.

Š Terry Allen, 1979

Contact Me Email:shenson@austin.rr.com

TX - Contraband Update Contraband Update