AT&T Hit With $300,000 Fine for Prison Call Overcharges

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission fined AT&T more than $300,000 for overcharging inmates on collect calls at two state prisons.
The commission identified almost 30,000 violations in telephone-rate charges between March and June 2005.

Officials investigated all calls placed by inmates housed at Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane and Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

While the majority of call overcharges were less than $1, one individual was overcharged more than $2,100 on 400 separate calls and more than 20 individuals were overcharged approximately $500 each, officials say.

The company, which blamed subcontractor billing errors for the discrepancies, was also ordered to refund more than $67,000 to the families of inmates who were overcharged for collect calls placed from the two prisons.

Approximately 1.6 million collect calls are placed from state prisons each year, officials say.