ATLANTA — Federal prosecutors say gangs at some Georgia prisons have been using cellphones to traffic drugs, smuggle in contraband, steal identities and, in at least one case, to arrange for a violent attack on another inmate suspected of snitching.
Indictments unsealed Thursday charged a dozen people who authorities say were involved in prison crime rings.
One indictment accuses an inmate of routinely brokering significant drug deals in the Atlanta area and other parts of the state from his cell at Valdosta State Prison. The indictment says he also used phones to plan a violent attack on another inmate who had agreed to cooperate with law enforcement.
The second indictment says three inmates at Phillips State Prison in Buford used phones for drug trafficking, and one also ran an identity theft operation.
