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Inmates make considerably less than minimum wage from their prison jobs, which means calling home or using the phone is often a luxury, with phone calls now costing 23 cents a minute in the federal system. Each prisoner is allotted 300 minutes of phone time, so using it all would cost a federal inmated $69 a month.Often, the people who bear the burden are the family members of the incarcerated."It costs me almost 70 dollars a month to talk to my girl and my family," John Broman, a 36-year-old Pittsburgh native serving a 16-and-a-half-year sentence for bank robbery, tells VICE from federal prison in West Virginia. "That money comes from my family and from my job. I get $100 a month for my jobs, which is considered big bucks in here, and $100 from my family."On VICE News: My Escape from Syria
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Watch the VICE HBO documentary on America's incarceration system, featuring President Barack Obama's first-ever visit to a federal prison:
I remember the phones being hectic during post week when money for everyone's prison job would be deposited in their accounts. There'd be long lines for the four phones that were in the entrance way of every prison unit, but after a couple of days, the phones would be idle most of the time because the majority of prisoners couldn't afford it. In fact, some prisoners sold their minutes.Travis Robetor, an upstate New York native who was 31 when he went in and did seven years for a cocaine conspiracy, says he'd use his own 300 minutes and then buy more off other prisoners. But using two accounts can spell trouble if you aren't careful, according to inmates who say there's often voice recognition technology in place on prison phones."If someone is trying to engage in illegal activity, they may use someone else's call to avoid detection. Staff do monitor and record each call," says Robert Rosso, a 45-year-old Californian (and VICE contributor) doing life at a federal prison in Indiana for a meth conspiracy.I saw lots of inmates get incident reports for using other prisoners' phone accounts. With the high costs, limited minutes, and severe restrictions, using the phone was like a trap for the incarcerated. New technology may be changing the landscape of communication across America, and even in some jails and prisons, but for those who rely on the official prison phone system, that the federal government is finally paying attention is no small thing.Follow Seth Ferranti on Twitter.