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Ex-Delco jail guards plead guilty to smuggling fentanyl into the facility for their personal use

Adham Diab and Lina Tarrad, who are married, were both sentenced to two years of probation for bringing fentanyl into George W. Hill Correctional Facility earlier this year.

Investigators say Adham Tiab and Lina Tarrad were caught with fentanyl by their former co-workers at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.
Investigators say Adham Tiab and Lina Tarrad were caught with fentanyl by their former co-workers at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.Read moreDavid Swanson / Staff Photographer

A former guard at the Delaware County jail was sentenced to two years of probation for smuggling fentanyl into the facility, the same sentence his wife and codefendant received last month.

Adham Diab, 44, pleaded guilty this week to drug possession and obstruction of justice, admitting that he brought the narcotic into George W. Hill Correctional Facility in January for his personal use. He was arrested alongside Lina Tarrad, 35, who also worked as a guard at the jail.

Tarrad pleaded guilty Aug. 26 to the same charges as her husband. As part of their pleas, Diab and Tarrad must undergo drug and alcohol counseling.

Diab’s attorney, Kevin O’Neil, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

The investigation into the couple’s drug use began when another corrections officer at the jail used a bathroom reserved for staff after Diab, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed for his arrest.

When that other officer went into the bathroom, he saw a blue baggie in the toilet and bloody toilet paper in the trash can, signs of drug use, the affidavit said. Investigators at the jail confronted Diab, who had another, similar blue baggie labeled “waverunner” in his pants pocket, the affidavit said.

Staff then questioned Tarrad, asking her if she, too, had contraband on her. In response, she pulled another “waverunner” bag from her boot, the affidavit said. The baggies tested positive for fentanyl.

After the couple’s arrests, another guard at George W. Hill was accused of bringing drugs into the facility.

Jazzmaine Lancit, 28, has been charged with drug possession with intent to deliver and possessing contraband after other staff at the facility found paper soaked with K2 inside her locker, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. Lancit is accused of selling the drugs to inmates.

A preliminary hearing for Lancit is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Another former guard, Damon Joyner, pleaded guilty in April to contraband and drug crimes after being caught smuggling Suboxone, Xanax, marijuana, and cigarettes into the jail in 2022 for Anthony Pierre, an inmate there. Joyner, 44, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in the same facility he once patrolled.