Deshane Harmon’s downfall was the new sneakers he wore to visit an inmate at the McConnell Unit near Beeville this summer.
The inmate wore a similar pair, but older.
When the two parted, Harmon was wearing the older pair.
The guards noticed.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for providing a prohibited item in a correctional facility — a cell phone he had hidden in one of the new sneakers. He was also found guilty of providing a prohibited substance — marijuana — to the same inmate. It was also stashed in the sole of the shoe.
The charges were enhanced because Harmon had a criminal history.
A Harris County jury convicted Harmon of two counts of aggravated robbery in June 2001 and sentenced him to eight years in prison. He was released on parole in February 2006 after only five years.
On June 22, 2008, Harmon visited convicted burglar Patrick Conley, who was serving an 18-year sentence at the William McConnell prison, a maximum-security prison near Beeville.
Guards at the McConnell Unit noticed Harmon was wearing a new pair of sneakers when he arrived for his visit. The brand of shoe was identical to the brand of shoe commonly sold to offenders housed at the prison.
Inmate Conley also wore the same kind of sneakers, but they were an older pair.
After Conley spoke with Harmon, guards noticed they had exchanged shoes.
They searched the pair and found a hidden compartment in one of Conley’s sneakers — which Harmon had worn when he came to visit. The compartment contained a cell phone wrapped in electrical tape and 2.91 ounces of marijuana wrapped in aluminum foil.
Harmon couldn’t have picked a worse time to try to sneak a cell phone into a prison.
State prison officials locked down every prison in the state last month to search for contraband items after someone slipped a cell phone to an inmate housed on Death Row. That inmate used the phone to call a state legislator and threaten him.
A guard was later arrested in connection with providing that prohibited item to an inmate.
Harmon will have to serve the remaining three years of his sentence before serving the 10-year term to which he was sentenced on Tuesday.
I'm retired after 22+years in the US Army and I have yet to go back to visit,,,,,,anyone !