(Michigan City, IN) - A man is accused of trying to smuggle tobacco and marijuana into Indiana State Prison, as 49-year-old Michael Bright has been charged in La Porte Superior Court 2 with Attempted Trafficking with an Inmate.

According to court documents, on February 18th Bright stepped out of a vehicle that had stopped outside the prison. A correctional officer spotted him walking on the street outside the prison wall with a bag in his hand.

While Bright was walking back and forth, the correctional officer pulled up in his vehicle and told him to stop. There, close to 16 ounces of tobacco and 30 grams of marijuana were seized from the bag.

Bright, who lives between Chicago and Joliet, told investigators he didn’t know what was inside the bag and, during an altercation with a friend, stepped out of the vehicle to take a walk.

He could face an up to six-year sentence on the Level 5 felony charge.