The crime of smuggling contraband to prisoners has progressed beyond the old “file in a cake” trick. Illinois lawmakers are looking into preventing prison deliveries by drones.
Last summer in a prison in Ohio, a fight broke out among inmates when a drone dropped a package in the yard -- a package containing heroin, marijuana, and tobacco. It has happened in Maryland and Oklahoma too. State Senator Tim Bivins of Dixon wants to make sure it doesn't happen here. So he's sponsoring legislation that would add an extra year to the sentences of inmates involved in smuggling things into prison using a drone.
Bivins is the former sheriff of Lee County: his district is home to a medium security prison. The ideas for the proposed law came from the Illinois Department of Corrections. It also would make photographing correctional facilities from the air a felony, for fear drones could be used to help plan escapes based on the prison's layout. Wisconsin and Michigan are looking at similar plans.
The Associated Press developed this story as part of its "Big Story" coverage.
