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Investigation Finds Inmates Built Computers, Hid Them In Prison Ceiling (cbs6albany.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from WRGB: The discovery of two working computers hidden in a ceiling at the Marion Correctional Institution prompted an investigation by the state into how inmates got access. In late July, 2015 staff at the prison discovered the computers hidden on a plywood board in the ceiling above a training room closet. The computers were also connected to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's network. Authorities say they were first tipped off to a possible problem in July, when their computer network support team got an alert that a computer "exceeded a daily internet usage threshold." When they checked the login being used, they discovered an employee's credentials were being used on days he wasn't scheduled to work. That's when they tracked down where the connection was coming from and alerted Marion Correctional Institution of a possible problem. Investigators say there was lax supervision at the prison, which gave inmates the ability to build computers from parts, get them through security checks, and hide them in the ceiling. The inmates were also able to run cabling, connecting the computers to the prison's network. Furthermore, "investigators found an inmate used the computers to steal the identify of another inmate, and then submit credit card applications, and commit tax fraud," reports WRGB. "They also found inmates used the computers to create security clearance passes that gave them access to restricted areas."
They sound like better job candidates that the millennial types that come through our doors. US millennials especially, they seem to think they deserve a cookie for knowing very basic things.
They seem to be able to get things working, which is better than most...
Used to be that Dell would use prison labor directly to recycle computers and do tech support. These days UNICOR resells the labor, so any scrutiny is on some faceless corp rather than the corp getting the benefits.
So yeah, that labor pool is already tapped for silicon valley.
Real fun is we get to accuse silicon valley corps of doing what we all knew they were doing all along; using software to build poverty traps which in turn break up families and drive up crime so they can hire the criminals for peanuts.
How does an inmate goes about building a computer "from parts" as if you could join copper pipes, rocks and whatnot together and magically transform it into a computer? That's not how it works! xD
Did the inmates have access to electronics recycling centers or something? Were people smuggling RAM chips, CPUs and whatnot inside somehow? This story is so weird...
If only they had born in .ua or .ru or even in .ng they would have had flourishing careers as top dons or at least as top henchmen to top dons. Sad they ended up in USA. Their local don, the for-profit-prison industrial complex cronies do not see the value in the phenomenal access they have to local talent.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
he just looked through the ODRC system for a young inmate with a long sentence, then used his information to get the cards.
If the bank is giving a credit card to a prison inmate with a long sentence, I feel like there's a moral imperative for someone to take advantage of them, for their own good.
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Once you're in prison, I would imagine the bar to increase sentencing is rather high. To increase your sentence, you'd have to go through trial, which means the prison has to file with the DA about crimes you committed in prison. There's a limited amount of discretion on early release, on which the prison wardens can provide input; anything beyond this requires judicial oversight.
Think about it. If you commit a rape or murder in prison, this needs to go to judiciary review. You need due process to examine the evidence. You're in an environment where other inmates can easily create a false image of the situation, and even the administrative staff is under enough obvious stress that trust is limited and personal grudges and abuse are expected. On the other end, every minor infraction doesn't need to become a Federal case; if you steal a fork from the commissary, that warrants disciplinary action, but not necessarily a new extension on your sentence.
This is hijinks. It's extreme hijinks, but it's still just hijinks. The inmate targeted for identity theft has a case against these people; as for their illegal use of the prison network and the entire chain of events involved, that's more of an administrative manner. This is an environment where people steal stuff, break stuff, and get places they don't belong; even beyond that expectation, this was junk hardware with little to no value to anyone, and thus the damages done by its theft are below standing. Such a scale of high-mischief warrants an extremely-long and uncomfortable talking to, and some unfriendly disciplinary measures; it's more amusing than criminal, though, and doesn't warrant an extreme response.
tl;dr: Nobody got stabbed or raped, and there wasn't a riot or break-out; somebody will get yelled at a whole hell of a lot and have their free-time privileges suspended, and that's just fine.
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2 more felonies - now total 3 felonies; 3 strikes rule kicks in and they're gone for life for being down an out and a bad desperate choice.
Bullshit. California has the toughest 3-strikes law in the country, and even there two of the three felonies must be serious or violent crimes.
Kelly Turner went to prison for life for writing a bad check, but the other two convictions were for armed robbery, not "missing an appointment".
America's prison system has many serious problems. The reality is bad enough without you making up nonsense.