Detroit woman accused of smuggling meth into Michigan prison, leading to inmate’s fatal overdose

COLDWATER, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit woman faces felony charges for allegedly smuggling methamphetamines into a Michigan prison last year, leading to an inmate’s fatal overdose, state police said.

The 24-year-old woman was charged with delivery of a controlled substance causing death and other felonies in the death of William Wilson, 57, at the Lakeland Correctional Facility, Michigan State Police said Wednesday.

The woman was arrested Monday and taken to the Branch County Jail. Her name will be withheld until she is arraigned, state police said in a news release.

After Wilson died unexpectedly at the prison on Oct. 29 with no obvious cause for his death, investigators determined that two days before he died the woman had visited him at the prison, located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.

Security video showed the woman smuggled a small object into the prison in her clothing and handed it to Wilson, who was then seen on the video swallowing the object, state police said.

After an autopsy found both broken and unbroken balloons inside Wilson’s body, state police said testing showed the balloons contained meth. His cause of death was determined to be an overdose of the drug as he was trying to regurgitate the balloons.

State police said the investigation into Wilson’s death was ongoing and investigators have “identified additional suspects connected to this plot to smuggle drugs into the prison.”