California Inmates Busted for Contraband Phones After Sharing Mannequin Challenge Video from Prison

Inmates in California are being investigated after posting a Mannequin Challenge video from prison using, and featuring, contraband phones.

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Sometimes posting Mannequin Challenge videos on social media can bring positive results. After all, the challenge helped Rae Sremmurd shoot to the top of the charts. On the other hand, for two Alabama men, their Mannequin Challenge, featuring a whole lot of guns, landed them in jail. It turns out, though, the Mannequin Challenge can lead to problems even for those already in prison. Inmates in California are being investigated after they posted a Mannequin Challenge video from prison using—and featuring—contraband phones.

According to NBC Los Angeles, officials at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, a prison in San Diego County are investigating a video simply titled "Mannequin Challenge: Prison." The one-minute video (which you can watch above) was posted by tben916 on Nov. 13.

With YFN Lucci's "Key to the Streets" playing in the background, the video, which features around a dozen men, begins by showing a man on the toilet. It shows people posted up by the showers, and another person holding a cell phone. You can see a small group of people frozen in the middle of a fight. Another group appears to be shooting dice. As the video wraps up, another inmate is shown on his bunk looking at his phone. 

When asked about the video, California Department of Corrections deputy press secretary Terry Thornton told KGTV: "That is definitely a concern. Inmates are not supposed to have cell phones, that is considered contraband in California state prisons. Cellphone possession in prison is illegal."

How could the men in the video be punished? "An inmate caught with an illegal cellphone can lose up to 90 days of good time credit," Thornton told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "There could be other sanctions as well."

Thornton told NBC Los Angeles that they're still investigating the video, including the contraband cell phones.

What's crazy is that this isn't even the first time prisoners have used contraband phones for the Mannequin Challenge. According to WGNO, prisoners in Alabama posted their own video in November:

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Be wise with the Mannequin Challenge, y'all.

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