A contraband cell phone in a North Carolina correctional facility is a serious infraction, and the consequences play out on two separate levels.
At the federal level, the law is clear and significant. The Contraband Cell Phone Act makes it a federal crime to possess a wireless device in a federal prison, carrying up to five years of additional prison time. North Carolina state facilities operate under state law rather than federal jurisdiction in most cases, but the trend across the country has been toward treating cell phone contraband with increasing severity as facilities crack down on the communications and criminal activity that unsecured phones enable.
At the institutional level, which is the more immediate consequence, being caught with a cell phone results in a serious disciplinary charge. Your husband is already in the hole at Tabor, which is the first stage of that process. How long he stays in the SHU depends on how the disciplinary hearing goes and how seriously the facility classifies the infraction. Several months in segregation is a realistic expectation for a cell phone possession charge, and it is not uncommon for facilities to add additional months depending on what, if anything, was found on the device.
Beyond the SHU time, expect significant loss of privileges including phone access, commissary restrictions, and potentially a setback in custody level classification. The transfer from Maury to Tabor already represents that kind of consequence.
Whether additional criminal charges get filed depends on how aggressively the state or federal authorities decide to pursue it. That question is best addressed by an attorney who can assess the specific circumstances and advise on the actual exposure.