SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the second time in less than two years, California prison officials have caught Charles Manson, mastermind of one of the most notorious killing sprees in U.S. history, with a cellphone behind bars.
Guards at Corcoran State Prison found the phone Jan. 6, according to prison spokeswoman Terry Thornton. Manson was charged with violating prison rules — but not with a crime because there is no law in California that prohibits inmates from possessing phones.
Thornton declined to provide details about where Manson got the phone, or whom he called, saying the case is still under investigation.
Manson called and sent text messages to people in California, New Jersey and Florida with a flip phone found under his prison bunk in March 2009, Thornton said. He also received calls on the phone.
Thirty days were added to his sentence for the first offense, officials said.
Manson is technically eligible for parole but will almost certainly die in prison for ordering the ritualistic murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in 1969.
He faces a disciplinary hearing and could lose early-release credits.
The state Legislature plans to consider a bill making inmates’ possession of phones illegal. Los Angeles Times; Associated Press file photo
