LANSING (WWJ) — After surfacing online in recent weeks, state prison officials said they're looking into how a pair of inmates were able to film a rap video and post it to YouTube — all while sitting in their prison cells.
Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz said via the Detroit Free Press that officials were able to identify the two prisoners featured in the video, which appeared to be shot with cellphones inside the Macomb Correctional Facility.
Cellphones and cameras are banned in all Michigan prisons and Gautz called their presence "incredibly dangerous."
The spokesman said cell phones can be used in a number of threatening ways, including planning escapes, harassing potential witnesses, or even coordinating "hits" on people inside or outside the prison walls.
The prisoners seen in the video made no attempt to hide their faces or disguise themselves, Gautz continued, which made them easy to identify.
The pair has since been placed in segregation and officials have launched an investigation into the incident.
Gautz said while officials believe the video was filmed in September, it was just posted to YouTube on Nov. 3. The clip seen on YouTube shows a prisoner sitting on their bed and talking on a cellphone, which suggests two phones were smuggled into the facility.
The video, titled 'In Dis Cell,' also features numerous other shots of the duo in their prison cell as well as a clip of corrections officers seemingly unaware that they are being filmed from the cell's doorway.
As reported by the Free Press, an incident on Oct. 24 led to a "stop order" against then-warden George Stephenson, which also resulted in his banishment from prison property pending an undisclosed investigation.
According to Gautz, the stop order was unrelated to the rap video, the Free Press reported.
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