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Two Michigan inmates are set to face more prison time after a now-viral rap video was shot inside a prison cell and posted on YouTube.
The video, which was shot inside Macomb Correctional Facility in Michigan in September, was uploaded to YouTube on November 3. The two inmates were caught after the guards, who were conducting a routine search two weeks after the rap video was posted, discovered a YouTube link written on a piece of paper.
Michigan State Police and prison officials have now launched an investigation to determine how the inmates secured a cell phone to shoot the video inside their cells and post it online despite phones being banned in prisons.
Authorities said that the prisoners are now in segregation and facing potential prison time.
Video of Michigan inmates rapping inside a prison cell has thousands of views
Part of the video, which has more than 60,000 views, shows a prisoner capturing footage of another inmate rapping while sitting on a bunk, leading the authorities to believe that at least two cell phones were illegally smuggled into the prison.
As per Free Press, the video also shows the prisoner capturing an image of a guard without his apparent knowledge of the inmate's activities inside the cell.
The prisoners, who remain undisguised throughout the length of the video, were caught two weeks after they posted the video online on November 3. The guards reportedly confronted the inmates after they found a YouTube link during a routine search of their cell.
In a statement reported by Fox News, Chris Gautz, spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Corrections, said:
"They then looked at it and pulled it up online and then found it was a video that had been shot inside that prison."
He added:
"The prisoners who were in the video certainly made no attempts to hide or disguise who they were, so staff was able to recognize them and go to their cell and confront them about this."
Gautz said that cell phones in prisons are deemed dangerous and illegal as "there’s a whole number of things untoward that you can do with contraband Cell Phones.”
Michigan officials have not released the names of the inmates in the video. However, they confirmed to Fox News that one of them was convicted of second-degree murder and the other of armed robbery.
On Tuesday, November 29, Michigan state Sen. Ed McBroom questioned the prison official about the videos on whether the inmates will face any potential criminal charges.
Kyle Kaminski, the department's legislative liaison, said that it was possible that the prisoners, who are presently in segregation and facing internal discipline, will also be charged criminally depending on the investigation and the prosecutor's subsequent actions.
The inmates face a potential five-year sentence for possessing contraband cell phones. Authorities said they might be placed in a maximum security prison if convicted.
