Eight inmates guilty of possessing cellular phones while incarcerated in Beaumont’s Federal Correctional Complex

BEAUMONT, Texas – Eight inmates have pleaded guilty to possessing contraband while incarcerated at a federal prison in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. Rudolph Tatum Jr., 44; Toan Tran, 47; Terral Blackwell, 49; Roderick Stills, 49; Gene Rudolph, 49; Elijah Pennington, 31; Dawnta Mitchell, 35; and Andre Powers, 41, have all pleaded guilty to possession of contraband in prison. Plea hearings were heard by U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn on August 13, 2026. These convictions are the direct result of a Department of Justice task force aimed at identifying and removing contraband and investigating misconduct in the federal prison complex in Beaumont. An initial operation began on March 3, 2026, at the Federal Correctional Complex Beaumont (FCC Beaumont). During the operation, law enforcement officers identified and confiscated numerous electronic devices, drugs and associated paraphernalia, and homemade weapons. These defendants were all found in possession of working cell phones, and each admitted to obtaining the phones while serving federal prison sentences at the FCC-Beaumont Camp. They each face an additional year in federal prison at sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office. “Inmates with access to cell phones are continuing the criminal activities that landed them in prison to begin with,” said U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. “We will continue to work closely with BOP to ensure felons serve their time without treating it like a summer camp vacation.” “Cellphones in prison are a danger to inmates, staff, and the community at large,” said Special Agent in Charge Cloey Pierce of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General’s South Central Region. “The DOJ OIG is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to keep contraband out of federal prisons and ensure the safety and security of BOP institutions.” “I witnessed firsthand the strength and effectiveness of this partnership at FCC Beaumont, where federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies came together with a shared commitment to identifying and removing dangerous contraband from our prisons,” said BOP Director William K. Marshall III. “Keeping contraband out of our institutions is critical to the safety and security of our facilities.” This operation was supported by law enforcement agents and officers from the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Prisons, FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, and local law enforcement from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The operation continues the longstanding cooperation between the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and other law enforcement partners to address the dangers of contraband in the federal prison system. These cases were investigated by the OIG, BOP, and FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Batte. ###