LANSING — A Kent County lawyer is facing a 20-year felony charge for attempting to smuggle drugs into a mid-Michigan prison.
Jayne Ashley Carver, 42, who has a law office in Belmont, about nine miles north of Grand Rapids, was arraigned Oct. 7 in 65B District Court in Ithaca on felony charges, Gratiot County Prosecutor Laura Bever said Oct. 21. The charges stem from an Aug. 4 incident in which Carver was seen passing a package to a prisoner during an attorney-client visit at Central Michigan Correctional Facility in St. Louis, Bever told the Detroit Free Press.
Officials searched the prisoner and found 211 strips of paper film suspected to be the narcotic Suboxone, plus 68 grams of a brown, waxy substance, and 45 grams of a white powder, the Michigan Department of Corrections said in an August news release. The Michigan State Police later searched the attorney’s vehicle, outside the prison, and found additional suspected Suboxone and white powder, the news release said.
Carver, who has been bound over to Gratiot County Circuit Court, is charged with delivery of methamphetamine, which is a 20-year felony, delivery of controlled substances, bringing contraband into a prison, and possession of a narcotic, Bever said.
“This is incredibly serious,” Bever said. “Attorneys are expected to uphold higher standards in terms of how we relate to our clients.”
Carver, who according to her State Bar of Michigan listing specializes in criminal law and criminal appeals, did not respond to telephone and email messages left Oct. 21, seeking comment.
Carver’s appearance in circuit court is not yet scheduled, Bever said.
“This recovery protected countless individuals from potential illness, overdose, or violence associated with the sale of these drugs or from those under the influence,” MDOC Director Heidi Washington said in the August news release.
It’s rare for attorneys to be accused of smuggling drugs into Michigan prisons.
In 2023, a Livonia lawyer was arrested and accused of smuggling drugs into Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecutor: West Michigan attorney faces 20-year felony charge in prison smuggling case
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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