Tuesday, August 31, 1999
Prison guard faces more drug charges
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Allegations of dope peddling against a guard at Lebanon Correctional Institution (LCI) have turned into a case of I-told-you-so.
Prosecutors in Warren County warned James Earl Smith, 35, this summer to plead to a drug charge or face being reindicted in Butler County.
They followed through.
Mr. Smith, who was arrested at LCI Jan. 21, now faces additional counts of permitting drug abuse, falsification and preparation of marijuana for sale.
Those are the same charges Butler County prosecutors dismissed earlier while Warren County officials pursued a charge of illegal conveyance of drugs onto the grounds of a detention facility.
Mr. Smith, of Dayton, had pleaded guilty to the Warren County charge in June but withdrew the plea when he discovered he would have to serve up to 18 months in the penitentiary because he was a guard accused of smuggling drugs onto prison grounds.
Mr. Smith's trial has been delayed while he searches for another lawyer. The trial is now set for Sept. 30 in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
Deputies said they watched an informant hand Mr. Smith a $250 “delivery fee” and 4 ounces of marijuana at a McDonald's restaurant in Butler County.
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