According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, an employee of Trinity Food Services, the company that provides the meals for prisoners in all Michigan prisons, is accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the prison recently.
The incident is alleged to have taken place at the MDOC Ionia Correctional Facility, where the employee is said to have attempted to bring both heroin and methamphetamines into the prison. The assumption is that the worker intended to provide prisoners with drugs although the investigation is still ongoing.
The Michigan State Police are investigating the incident and as of yet they have not recommended charges to the Ionia County Prosecutor’s Office, which is why the person question has not been arrested or charged. But according to an MSP officer at the Lakeview Post, the food service employee has been fired from Trinity Food Services and banned from MDOC prison property.
Michigan Department of Corrections Speaks Out
According to Chris Gautz, the spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), the suspect had been under investigation before the drugs were discovered. Someone had reported to authorities that the suspect was bringing contraband into the prison.
In Michigan, charges for bringing drugs into a prison to give to a prisoner is a felony. However, the type of drug and the amount both determine the specific felony charge and the Michigan sentencing guidelines. All we know as of now, in the event that MSP decides to request charges against the suspect, is that the charges will likely be very serious. The accused person will need an excellent attorney on their side fighting for them.
Michigan Corrections Organization union spokeswoman Anita Lloyd says that this is by no means the first time that this kind of thing has happened since Trinity took over from Aramark as the MDOC’s prison food provider. “There have been 66 “stop orders” so far with this company, we think that’s a lot.” The corrections officer’s union did not make comment about the significant number of their own members that have been charged with smuggling drugs, cell phones or other contraband into Michigan’s prison system.
A stop order means that a former employee has been fired and is no longer permitted to be on Michigan Department of Corrections prison property or enter a prison building. Although 66 is a high number according to Lloyd, when compared to the number of stop orders placed on Aramark employees during the same period of time the previous year, Aramark had 113 stop orders in effect.