Two guards at the Delaware County jail smuggled fentanyl into the facility, police say

Two guards at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility were arrested late last week, prosecutors said Monday, for smuggling fentanyl into the jail.

Adham Diab, 43, and Lina Tarrab, 35, of Upper Darby, have been charged with possessing contraband, conspiracy, and related offenses. The couple, who are married, remained in custody Monday in the facility they previously patrolled, in lieu of $30,000 bail, court records show.

The couple’s arrests represent at least the fourth documented case in the last three years of guards at George W. Hill bringing, or attempting to bring, narcotics into the Delaware County facility.

After taking over management of the facility from the private prison firm the GEO Group in April 2022, county officials have acknowledged that contraband remains a pervasive issue. But, in a statement Monday, Chief County Detective Jim Nolan said that the change in management has resulted in “100% improvement in communication and collaboration” with security staff at the jail.

“For the first time, we have confidence that incidents of crime that take place in or at the jail are being fully reported and prosecuted,” Nolan said. “We hope this leads to a safer facility for both the people incarcerated and the people who work at the facility.”

Diab and Tarrab were taken into custody Thursday after being questioned at the county jail, after 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 Tarrab, 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. Tarrab told investigators she had requested a 10-day leave from the jail so she and her husband could enter a drug-rehabilitation program, but administration at the facility said no such request had been made, according to the affidavit.

A spokesperson for the Delaware County Council declined to comment, citing the active investigation.

Frank Kwaning, the president of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union, said Monday that the union is aware of and concerned about the issue of drugs coming into the jail and has tried to raise its concerns to county officials.

“We are trying to work with the county to get all of these issues under control, but we have not been successful,” Kwaning said.

Most recently, Damon Joyner, 44, allegedly smuggled Suboxone, Xanax, marijuana, and cigarettes into the jail in collaboration with a man incarcerated there. Joyner was charged with drug offenses and possessing contraband in December 2022. His trial is scheduled to begin next week.

Two other guards faced drug charges for similar schemes in 2021, when George W. Hill was under the oversight of the private-prisons firm.

On Christmas Day 2019, five women overdosed on heroin, one fatally, after inmate Kathleen Fisher, 40, had her son smuggle the narcotic to her during a holiday visit. Fisher pleaded guilty to drug delivery resulting in death in 2021 and is serving a 4-to-11-year sentence in state prison.