Prison inmate rap video shot in Michigan facility sparks investigation

A rap video shot in a Michigan correctional facility posted on YouTube has gotten a lot of views and even praise. It is also at the center of an investigation.

The men behind it are now in segregation facing more prison time, FOX 2 Detroit reports. Authorities want to know how the two Macomb Correctional Facility inmates got a hold of cell phones, shot a music video inside their cell, and then posted it online. 

Guards found a YouTube link written on a piece of paper while conducting a routine search, FOX 2 states. 

“They then looked at it and pulled it up online and then found it was a video that had clearly been shot inside that prison,” Chris Gautz, spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Corrections, said.

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The video was reportedly shot back in September and was posted to YouTube Nov. 3. 

When guards discovered it about a week or two after it was posted, the video had about 200 views. It currently has more than 61,000 and counting. 

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“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.

The inmates could face additional prison time because having a cell phone in the facility is illegal.

“There’s a whole number of things untoward that you can do with contraband cellphones,” Gautz said.

Investigators are now trying to determine how the men got the phones. MDOC is not releasing the names of the men in the video but told FOX 2 one of them was convicted of second-degree murder, the other armed robbery.

 

One of the two was convicted twice before for possessing prisoner contraband while doing a stint at Muskegon Correctional Facility.

Those involved in the incident could get five-year penalties. The inmates could be moved to maximum security prison, pending the outcome of the investigation.