COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Detroit area attorney was arraigned Friday in Branch County District Court on two charges after a investigation was conducted by the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Corrections into an alleged incident of smuggling contraband into the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater.
69-year-old Eric Howard Clark is facing felony offenses of bringing contraband into a prison and being in possession of less than 25 grams of a controlled substance.
State Police said in a press release issued on Thursday that the illegal controlled substances were allegedly brought into the prison under the guise of an attorney / client visit.
According to court documents, the investigation began after Clark visited a client at the prison on June 1. He left behind some papers and told the staff to process them through the mail room and give them to his client. Prison officials examined the papers and found what they thought was illegal drug activity. The State Police crime lab found what was called the presence of a Schedule One controlled substance.
Documents also state there was an elaborate scheme to smuggle controlled substances into the prison by attorney/client visits.
Clark denied having specific intent or knowledge that a crime was afoot.
A $20,000 personal recognizance bond was set and Clark was ordered to stay in Michigan. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
A probable cause hearing was set for August 24 with a preliminary exam on August 31. Clark plans to hire his own attorney.
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