Dear Legislators:

    On February 26, 2013, Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati was on his way home from the Federal Detention Center at Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, when he was ambushed by a gang and shot to death. His death left me without a husband, a son, and two young daughters without their father. It was a tragedy none of us will ever get over.  

    The reason for his murder – cell phones inside the prison walls. My husband had discovered the use of contraband cell phones to contact outside criminal enterprises, particularly organized drug gangs which were being advised and directed from inside the prison walls. The “hit” on my husband was actually organized from within the walls of Guaynabo.  

    When a criminal is incarcerated, it is too often believed that his criminal activity has been interrupted and, for the moment, has ceased altogether. Nothing could be further from the truth. There has been an increase in cell phone activity within the institutions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, allowing inmates to carry on their criminal pursuits unimpeded by prison walls. This simply cannot be tolerated.  

    HR8645 and S4699, the Prison Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of 2022 address this critical issue. I respectfully ask that you see the importance of this bill and vote it into law. Criminal activity does not just exist on the streets. It exists within our prison walls as well, and we need to take whatever steps are necessary to put a stop to it. Please let my husband’s sacrifices, and the ongoing pain endured by this family count for something.   Thank you.  

Yours truly,

Helen Albarati  

Helen Andujar Albarati

Wife of fallen Federal Officer Lt. Osvaldo Albarati

Board Member, Voices of JOE