Phila. Trial Opens For Prison Guard Accused of Tryst With Inmate
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A male federal prison guard in Philadelphia is now on trial, charged with having sex with a female inmate and giving her a prohibited gift.
But the man's attorney says the Tiffany earrings were stolen from him by the inmate, who also fabricated the story of the illicit affair.
Prosecutor Nicole Phillips has told the jury that defendant Lamont Lucas -- a guard for 18 years and supervisor of the tool room at the Federal Detention Center in center city -- "groomed" the inmate for the relationship: complimented her and gave her contraband food, before a sexual relationship developed.
Then, according to Phillips, the affair came to light the day before the inmate was to be released, when Lucas gave her the Tiffany earrings and she wore them back to her cell.
Confronted by guards who had been tipped by other inmates, the inmate admitted the affair.
But defense attorney Catherine Henry says the affair is a fabrication. She says Lucas never had sex with the inmate, who stole the earrings that were to be a gift for his daughter and then made up the story about an affair when caught with the stolen contraband.
The only thing Lucas did wrong, Henry says, was to trust a convicted thief and liar.
The inmate was in custody for bank fraud.
