IONIA COUNTY, MI - A prison food services worker was fired Tuesday, May 10, for allegedly trying to bring drugs into Ionia Correctional Facility.
A prison inspector had been investigating the Trinity Services Group worker and arranged to have state police at the prison when he showed up to work.
Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz declined to identify what drugs were allegedly involved.
He said state police are investigating.
The prison system placed a "stop order" on the former worker to prevent him from returning to the prison.
Trinity took over prison food service in September after the state cancelled its three-year, $145 million contract with Aramark, which was under scrutiny for workers' relationships with inmates, food quality and inadequate staffing.
The worker is the 66th to have a stop order filed against him in the first 10 months that Trinity has handled food service for Michigan prisons. By comparison, there were 113 stop orders during Aramark's first 10 months.
John Agar covers crime and other issues for MLiveE-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar