COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – For decades, South Carolina State Officials have been working to shut down contraband cell phones inside South Carolina prisons. U.S. District of Attorney for South Carolina, Bryan Stirling, has said inmates are using illegal phones to commit crimes, traffic drugs, even communicate with cartels.

Now, the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.), led by Trump appointed Chairman Brendan Carr, announced last week that they will vote later this month to let states jam cell phone signals.

“I was very excited when he was appointed, in January of 2025, because he knew this issue and I knew he was passionate about it. I didn’t know that he was going to do this. I was frankly stunned and happily, so,” said Stirling, who is one of the faces who has been pushing for this for over a decade.

Joel Anderson, the Director of South Carolina Department of Corrections, said cell phones behind bars aren’t just illegal, they’re dangerous for the prisoners and for you at home.

“It’s not a joke. This is not a game that we play,” Anderson added.

The State Department of Corrections reported approximately 2,600 contraband phones were found last year, and 300 just last month in state prisons across South Carolina. Some prisoners are receiving phones through Corrections officers, and even drones that are being flown over 60-feet-high nets to drop the cell phones for the inmates.

“State prison should be able to interfere and jam cell phones. It’s a matter of public safety and safety for the prisons,” Stirling said.

Anderson added inmates with these phones are coordinating drug crimes, claiming that 100% of drug dealing cases in South Carolina have a connection to inside state prisons.

“We found enough fentanyl in one of our prisons to kill the entire prison system. I mean… in Lexington County… they found enough, they told us to kill millions of people,” Anderson said.

Authorities are reporting there have been several cases where inmates have used illegal techonolgy to even order hits.

“Look no further than Captain Robert Johnson. He was a Contraband Captain from Lee Correctional. He was shot five or six times, point blank in his home because he was doing his job at Lee Correctional. That man has had so many surgeries, I’ve lost count. He’s lucky to be alive. He is a true miracle,” said Stirling.

But some people say that State Prisoners will still need to connect with their families, but Stirling said they will still have the ability to contact their families or 9-1-1 if there is an emergency through their tablets or the prison wall phones. Stirling said the Communications Act of 1934 said state prisons cannot interfere with radio frequency.

“It says you cannot, the Feds can, but states cannot interfere with an authorized signal. My argument is that this is not an authorized signal, that this is an illegal signal, because it’s in the hands of an inmate behind bars, at Departments of Corrections or Detention Centers across the country,” said Stirling.

If the F.C.C. approves, they could jam signals in state prisons making illegal phones useless.

“I believe that when it goes to vote, there’s, there’s not going to be much opposition. This is nationwide and it’s everywhere, ” Anderson added.

Stirling said the people who oppose this are big cellular companies like AT&T, Verizon, etc.

Stirling said he tested the jamming technology back in 2017 and has systems ready to expand. He said the General Assembly gave them the money, and with F.C.C. approval, they could act fast, and basically just flip a switch.