Austin News

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has issued a statement following the Senate's approval of the Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act. The legislation aims to address the issue of contraband cellphones in federal prisons by elevating the charge for smuggling such devices from a misdemeanor to a felony. The bill will now proceed to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senator Cruz, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed his support for the bill, stating, "Prison isn’t a taxpayer-funded hotel. Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati was murdered for doing his job and enforcing rules against contraband. I’m proud to work with Sens. Ossoff and Grassley on their bipartisan legislation to place stricter penalties on criminals who violate prison contraband rules, to better protect security guards like Lieutenant Albarati."

The legislation was introduced with bipartisan support from Senators Jon Ossoff, Chuck Grassley, Cory Booker, and Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The act is named in memory of Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati, a Bureau of Prisons correctional officer who was killed in 2013 at the Metropolitan Detention Center Guaynabo in Puerto Rico. His murder was linked to his efforts in seizing contraband items such as cellphones within the facility. It was revealed that an inmate used a contraband cellphone to orchestrate the attack on Albarati.