Planning Ahead With Your Phone When You Self-Report
When you’re self-reporting to begin your sentence at a federal prison, you obviously can’t bring your cell phone with you to begin your confinement, and they aren’t going to mail it back to you.
Most obviously, if you’re self-reporting with a family member or loved one, they can take your cell phone with them as they depart. However, if you’re going alone, we have a few suggestions.
First, you can just take your SIM card and get a throwaway phone from Walmart or Facebook Marketplace, and use this phone as needed until it’s time to throw it away when you arrive.
Alternatively, you can get a complete throwaway phone with SIM card and dispose of that when necessary.
If you want to make sure you keep the cell phone number you’ve had for years and years, we recommend finding the cheapest possible monthly plan, such as those offered by Ting Mobile or Tello, and porting your number to their service. These usually run between $10 to $15 per month. Just be sure this fits in your budget throughout your incarceration.
Under no circumstances will the BOP mail your cell phone home to you, or even the SIM card. Once you arrive, you can consider any electronics on your person to be gone. So, make sure you only have the cell phone you need to get to federal prison, because it will be disposed of.