Global Tel-Link Overcharged W. Va. Inmates for Telecom Service, Alleges Class Action

Global Tel-Link charged incarcerated and nonincarcerated persons rates in excess of the contract rates for certain electronic communication services in West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDCR) facilities, alleged a fraud class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-00827) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria.

In May 2022, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security, Division of Administrative Services, on behalf of WVDCR, agreed to a GTL proposal to provide equipment, services and “affordable rates for your inmates and their friends and family,” the complaint said. The agreement set rates for video calls; inmate content access; text, photo, and video messages; and other services at all WVDCR correctional facilities, it said. Under the agreement, GTL "is not permitted to charge additional fees or assess additional charges that were not either expressly provided for in the solicitation published by the State of West Virginia or included in the unit price or lump sum bid amount that [GTL] is required by the solicitation to provide.”

From May 2022 to April 2023, GTL charged the seven plaintiffs in the class action more than the contract rate for video visitation services, charged incarcerated plaintiffs in excess of the contract rate for “access fees,” and charged nonincarcerated plaintiffs more than the contract rate per text, photo and video message, alleged the complaint. To date, GTL has refused to refund the overcharges to the plaintiffs and class members, the complaint said.

Columbus, Ohio, resident Jeremy Allen, a former inmate at Huttonsville Correctional Center (HCC) and Jail in Randolph County, West Virginia, discovered on Feb. 17, 2023, that GTL charged him 25 cents per minute for a video visitation call, 5 cents per minute more than he had been charged prior to his transfer that month from Salem Correction Center and Jail, also part of WVDCR, said the complaint.

A WVDCR policy directive Allen obtained showed video visitation rates as 20 cents per minute, the complaint said. Allen was also charged over 4 cents per minute to access paid content on a tablet and 3 cents per minute to access basic content that should have been free, the complaint said. The master agreement sets the price of premium content access at 4 cents per minute for people incarcerated in a prison and 5 cents per minute for people incarcerated in jail, with access to basic content free, it said.

Allen filed a grievance with GTL for reimbursement of the overcharges but received a response from an HCC manager that his grievance was denied, the complaint said. Allen appealed the grievance and continued to place video calls to friends and family and access video content at the higher rates, while waiting for a ruling on his appeal, it said. In April 2023, GTL “stopped illegally overcharging Mr. Allen and other inmates at HCC,” but he and class members haven't been reimbursed for the overcharges, it said.

Similarly, Charles Thomas was incarcerated at HCC from November 2019 to April 2024 and was overcharged for video visitation services and content access from May 15, 2022, to April 2023, the complaint alleged. Thomas never received responses from GTL requesting reimbursement for the overcharges, it said. Zoey Hott, Matthew White and Martez Griffin, also incarcerated in the WVDCR system during the class period, suffered GTL overcharges, too, and weren't reimbursed, said the complaint.

Allen's Elijah Taylor, a Columbus, Ohio, resident and partner to Jeremy Allen, and Ramona Orellana, a St. Cloud, Florida, resident and longtime friend of Matthew White, were charged more than 20 cents per minute to use the GTL Getting Out smartphone app to engage in video visitations during the class period, said the complaint. In order to connect with an incarcerated person, a nonincarcerated person must sign up for the Getting Out app, which allows that person to deposit funds directly into the incarcerated person’s inmate account or to establish a “friends and family account." Taylor and Orellana haven't been reimbursed for the "illegal overcharges,” alleged the complaint.

GTL “unjustly and unreasonably charged” the plaintiffs a rate for video calls, messages, and content access higher than that permitted by GTL’s master agreement with WVDCR, the complaint alleged.

The plaintiffs assert claims of unfair or deceptive acts or practices and conversion, plus violation of the Telecommunications Act. They request actual damages or $200 for each plaintiff and class member; punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and prejudgment interest. Global Tel-Link didn't comment.