Ohio Inmates Construct Computers out of Trash to Obtain Internet Connection

A 2015 incident has been released to the public about two prisoners in an Ohio jail who created personal computers from discarded electronic parts. The inmates were able to conceal the computers in the training room ceiling and hook the devices up to the internet through the prison network.

This occurrence came to light after a year of collecting evidence in a recent fifty page report, written by the state’s Office of the Inspector. The parts recovered by inmates were part of a program in the correctional facility to reuse pieces of old electronics, reducing the building’s waste.

The two prisoners quickly secured a network connection to their devices and began looking through the digital files of their peers. Furthering their legal offence, they found ways to create imitation passes for restricted areas, fraudulent credit cards, and fatal weaponry. It was also determined that pornography sites, online chat rooms, forged signature certificates, and other related media were accessed.

Although only two inmates executed the entirety of the plan, they were aided by three others along the way, all of whom had some kind of involvement with the correctional facility’s rehabilitation programs. Each of the five prisoners is now in a new building.

Ohio’s prison staff will put preventative measures into place for the future, being sure to maintain programs that will allow behaved inmates to grow.