Special Report

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― The problem is alarming.  Correction officials in Maryland confiscated nearly 1,000 cell phones from prison inmates last year alone.

A WJZ investigation took you inside the controversy Monday night.  Now, WJZ has reaction as lawmakers and a top state correction administrator reveal how they're tackling cell phones behind cell doors.

Mike Hellgren exposed Monday night how easy it is for inmates to get contraband behind bars and the devastating results.

"An individual who is incarcerated has a perfect alibi if a witness gets killed," said Antonio Gioia, chief attorney of narcotics division.

Now lawmakers are outraged by what WJZ's investigation uncovered.

"It's pretty astounding" said Delegate Samuel "Sandy" Rosenberg.

Rosenberg is Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

"You have to crack down on this and make an example of these horrible instances where inmates are really flaunting the system," he said.  "If you go after those who are most brazen, you send a message to everyone in the system."

Perhaps the "most brazen" is drug dealer Patrick Byers, who used a cell phone to order the murder of Carl Lackl, a star witness who was just days away from testifying against him in another murder case.

But it doesn't end with that high-profile case.  WJZ obtained hundreds of pages of court records that contain stunning revelations: officers smuggling in cell phones and drugs, inmates using corrections staff as prostitutes, incarcerated gang leaders discussing intimidating witnesses and jurors, boldly running criminal empires on the outside.

"It certainly does outrage me," said Commissioner Michael Stouffer.

WJZ was granted an interview with Stouffer, the commissioner at the Division of Correction.

"It is a problem.  We know it's a problem," he said.  "It's their money, so to speak.  It's their commerce, so they want to control that and in their attempts to control it, bad things happen."

So who's bringing the cell phones in?  Some WJZ sources blame insiders.

"There's really no other way to get cell phones in except through correctional officers," an inmate said.

The commissioner primarily blames other inmates and visitors.

"I still think that the staff impact on all this--the negative impact on all this as far as them trafficking items inside--is small," Stouffer said.  "It's a really immense task to check all the people and all the stuff and things that go in and out of a correctional facility.  It is just huge."

He says from phone-sniffing dogs to better screening of officers, the state is aggressively tackling contraband.

"We're coming at this problem from multiple directions, doing everything we can within our means to stop it," Stouffer said.

Some lawmakers say accountability must start at the top.

"I am outraged, but I think it's bigger than just the inmates," said Senator Lisa Gladden.  "The inmates are doing exactly what they've been allowed to do and we need to stop it with a zero tolerance policy that says no more of this."

No more witnesses killed, no more inmates terrorizing those on the outside while they're locked up on the taxpayer dime.

"They got the cell phone somehow.  That's a breakdown in the system," Gladden said.

"This is not something we're going to tolerate," Rosenberg said.

The Division of Correction has almost doubled the number of cell phones they've recovered in recent years and credits that with a sharp drop in inmates assaulting staff members. 

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