If you are going to Jail, you must forfeit just about everything on entry, this includes your phone. This didn’t stop 2,800 mobiles being smuggled into Jails in 2008, this has brought about a new bill called SB 434.

Officials say the number of cell phones confiscated in California prisons has doubled in the last year from 1,400 devices in 2007 to about 2,800 in 2008. California State Sen. John Benoit (pictured) wants to make it a misdemeanor crime with a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine for a prisoner to possess a cell phone in any state prison. Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said “Cell phone smuggling into California’s prisons is a very serious and growing problem.”

Part of the problem seems to stem from prison guards who are often part of the smuggling ring. One prison employee admitted to the newspaper that he made up to $100,000 in one year smuggling phones into the prison where he worked. The phones found were used for drug deals and escape plots. Maybe they can bring the dogs in?

[via CNET]