Court records obtained by the newspaper described the alleged plot: An accomplice would check out books from the Madison Square branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library, cut out the bindings, insert the drugs, reseal them, and return them to the library. The accomplice would then tell inmates which books to request through a state-supported prisoner interlibrary loan program. Although prison librarians examine the pages and covers of the books, the bindings are usually overlooked, said prison spokesman Leo LaLonde.
Investigators told the Press that the titles chosen were “unpopular books so the likelihood someone else would check them out in the interim is unlikely.” No accomplices have yet been arrested in connection with the operation.
Posted September 15, 2006.