WARREN, Maine -- Authorities said a woman who hoped to slip a loaded handgun to an inmate at the Maine State Prison was arrested in the parking lot, averting a potential hostage situation.

Troopers ordered Susan Watland face-down to the ground in the prison parking lot in Warren on Tuesday as she arrived for a visit with her husband, Gary Watland, of Anson. The 45-year-old inmate is serving 25 years for murder.

Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson said troopers found a .40-caliber handgun loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition hidden in Susan Watland's clothing. Magnusson said the plan was for her to pass the gun to her husband in the visitor area as part of an escape plot.

Two days earlier, a tipster had alerted prison officials to a potential attempt to bring a weapon into the state's most secure prison.

Susan Watland, 46, of Jackson, is being held in the Knox County Jail pending her initial appearance on Thursday in Rockland District Court.

Magnusson said she may face additional charges, and charges may be forthcoming against her husband, as well.