Texas death row inmate, 2 relatives indicted on charges of sneaking cell phones into prison

September 16th, 2009 Guards watch Ohio inmate after execution delayLUCASVILLE, Ohio — A condemned inmate whose execution was stopped because of problems finding a usable vein will remain at the maximum security prison where death row inmates usually are held for a day before being put to death. Ohio prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says inmate Romell Broom has been placed in a cell in the infirmary at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville and will remain there over the next week.

September 15th, 2009 Dogs sniff out inmates' illegal cell phones in NJBORDENTOWN, N.J. — As Congress considers whether to allow state prisons to install cell phone jamming devices, New Jersey is grappling with ways to stop inmates from running criminal enterprises from behind bars.

September 11th, 2009 Chaplain may be fired for carrying inmate lettersHOUSTON — A death row chaplain is facing dismissal after he acknowledged smuggling out letters for a condemned inmate who has posted Internet messages threatening a state lawmaker and that man's family, Texas prison officials said Friday. It's not known if the letters mailed by the chaplain, Richard Anderson, for death row prisoner Richard Tabler are the ones that ended up on a Web site dedicated to condemned inmates and their cases, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said.

September 10th, 2009 Texas death row inmate appeals to LondonersLONDON — A death row inmate in Texas who claims she was framed for murder is begging fellow Britons to help save her life. Fifty-year-old Linda Carty's voice is being broadcast across London's Trafalgar Square from an art installation set up on an empty plinth.

September 7th, 2009 Gunmen kill 4 prison officials in GuatemalaGUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalan police say four prison officials have been shot to death in three separate attacks that authorities believe are retaliation for a jail crackdown. Ministry of Interior spokesman Nery Morales says a warden, a deputy warden, a prison guard and a driver were killed Monday after officials seized cell phones and moved inmates to different prisons over the weekend to break up an extortion ring.

September 4th, 2009 Texas lawmaker: Death row inmate made Web threatsAUSTIN, Texas — Prison officials are investigating whether a Texas death row inmate accused of threatening a state lawmaker using a smuggled cell phone is behind an Internet posting that threatens the lawmaker and his family. State Sen. John Whitmire said he's convinced Richard Lee Tabler is behind a rambling May 29 posting on a site dedicated to death row inmates and their cases.

September 3rd, 2009 Md. officials test cell phone detection at prisonANNAPOLIS, Md. — Officials from five states observed tests on cell phone detection technology at a closed Maryland prison on Thursday, as states are taking a greater interest in finding ways to halt violence orchestrated by inmates behind prison walls.

August 26th, 2009 Couple indicted in Texas starvation caseDALLAS — A grand jury in Dallas has indicted a couple accused of keeping the woman's three young children starving in a hotel bathroom for at least nine months. A prosecutor says 30-year-old Abneris Santiago and her boyfriend, 37-year-old Alfred Santiago, were each indicted Wednesday on three charges of first-degree injury to a child.

August 14th, 2009 Ark. guard denies death-row sex allegationLITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas prison spokeswoman says allegations that a death-row guard had a romantic relationship with an inmate were determined to be "unfounded." The guard, Danita Williams, denied Thursday the claims that the inmate committed a sexual act in her presence and passed her love letters.

August 13th, 2009 Fired Ark. guard denies death-row sex allegationLITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas prison guard fired after an investigation into allegations that she had a romantic relationship with a death-row inmate says the prisoner never committed a sex act with her.

July 15th, 2009 State officials push for prison cell phone jammingWASHINGTON — Texas and Maryland officials are urging Congress to approve legislation allowing states to jam illegal cell phones used by prisoners. Texas State Sen.

July 3rd, 2009 Brazil prison guards nab pigeon with cell phoneSAO PAULO — Prison guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into a Brazilian prison by carrier pigeon — this one wearing a tiny backpack — and said Friday that the practice is becoming almost commonplace. An exhausted pigeon wearing a small makeshift backpack was intercepted just outside walls at the Danilo Pinheiro prison near the city of Sorocaba, said a spokesman for the Sao Paulo State Prison Affairs department.

June 27th, 2009 Texas' prison guard shortage easesAUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of state convicts in Texas are going to be moving. Texas prison officials say they plan to cancel contracts to house as many as 1,900 state convicts in county lockups because the number of convicts in state prisons has fallen.

June 22nd, 2009 AP source: Indicted billionaire headed to TexasWASHINGTON — A law enforcement official says indicted billionaire R. Allen Stanford is en route to Texas to face charges that he ran a $7 billion swindle.

May 6th, 2009 Miss. inmate indicted in truck stop death in TexasPAMPA, Texas — A Mississippi prisoner has been indicted in Texas in the death of a woman linked to a string of slayings at truck stops in several states. Thirty-two-year-old John Robert Williams was indicted Thursday on a capital murder charge in the death of Vickie Helen Anderson.