Media Contact:
Matthew Berry, (202) 418-2005
matthew.berry@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
On Need for FCC to Take Immediate Action to Combat Contraband Cellphones
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2016.—Yesterday, a North Carolina jury convicted a prison inmate of 
orchestrating the kidnapping of his prosecutor’s father by using a contraband cellphone.  Kevin Melton, a 
leader in the United Bloods Nation gang, coordinated the abduction by sending more than 120 text 
messages and placing numerous phone calls to gang members from the Polk Correctional Institution in 
Butner, North Carolina.  The prosecutor’s father was snatched from his home in Wake Forest and spirited 
away to an apartment in Atlanta.  There, he was tied to a chair, imprisoned in a closet for four days, and 
beaten by his captors.  Luckily, law enforcement rescued him before the order to execute him could be 
carried out.
This horrific incident is just one example of how innocent Americans across our country are 
being victimized by prison inmates using contraband cellphones.  And it highlights the need for the FCC 
to take immediate action to combat this problem.
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Office of Commissioner Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000
Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official
action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).