Death Row Wireless Crime Spree Probed

Oct. 30, 2008 — -- As a system wide prison lockdown in Texas stretches into its second week, investigators are probing whether women in Europe gave money to death row inmates to buy prohibited cell phones that were allegedly used to direct crimes from behind bars.

"These cell phones are a direct threat to public safety," John Moriarty, the Texas prison system's inspector general, told ABCNews.com.

State authorities have thwarted attempts at narcotics trafficking and solicitation of capital murder from prisoners who had the illicit phones, he said.

A shakedown of the state's 112 facilities began last week after State Sen. John Whitmire received what he said was a threatening call from Richard Tabler, a convicted double-murderer who is currently awaiting execution on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Tex.

After the call, Gov. Rick Perry put the entire prison system on mandatory lockdown, restricting movement for all of the system's 156,000 prisoners.

Authorities are investigating a large narcotics ring involving cell phones within the prison and people on the outside, Whitmire told ABCNews.com.

According to a prison representative, a lockdown means many inmates are confined to their cells for most of the day -- they are no longer permitted to leave for educational programs, time in the recreation yard or to go to the showers.

Whitmire told ABCNews.com that he became alarmed when Tabler not only mentioned the names and ages of his two daughters but also spoke flippantly about how easy it was for him to get a cell phone behind bars.

"I kept asking [Tabler] how he was calling me, and he just responded, 'I'm on a cell phone,'" said Whitmire, who is chairman of the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

"I asked him how he got it and he quickly said, '$2,100,'" he added. "He also told me had a charger."

Authorities said they determined that Tabler, 29, had shared his phone with at least nine other inmates; together, they are estimated to have placed as many as 2,800 calls in the last 30 days.