Scranton man convicted of possessing drugs at Lackawanna County Prison
Jun. 11—A Lackawanna County Court jury convicted a Scranton man of concealing crack cocaine and other drugs on his body when he was processed into the county jail last year.
Jurors returned a guilty verdict against Lance Green, 41, on possession of contraband by an inmate and several other charges Thursday following a two-day trial before Judge Michael J. Barrasse.
County detectives charged Green with having crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana when he arrived at Lackawanna County Prison on Aug. 17 after his arrest on a bench warrant for a probation violation stemming from a prior drug-related conviction.
According to the arrest affidavit, Green was undergoing processing at the jail when a prison guard conducting an unclothed search of the inmate noticed a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana under his genitals.
A second clear plastic was discovered when the guard ordered Green to bend over and spread his buttocks, the affidavit said. It contained suspected crack cocaine, along with two other bags containing suspected heroin.
After all of the suspected drugs field-tested positive, they were sent to the state police crime laboratory for further analysis, detectives said.
In addition to three counts of inmate possession of contraband, jurors found Green guilty of two counts each of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver, plus one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was returned to the county jail, where he is held on $50,000 bail, to await sentencing.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
