She was among three people charged in connection to the May 16, 2023, death of inmate Joshua Gunn, who was serving a 5½-year sentence aggravated assault and weapons convictions in Hamilton County.
Lucas along with Landis Deqwon Talbert, 26, of Lincoln Heighs and Mekhi Isaiah Warren, 21, of Mt. Healthy, both suburban Cincinnati communities, were indicted last October for illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound. Talbert, a prison inmate, also was indicted for involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs and possession of a fentanyl-related compound.
Lucas pleaded guilty in September to one count of illegal conveyance. As part of her plea, a trafficking charge was dismissed, according to court records.
She formerly worked at the prison and, with Warren’s help, is believed to have smuggled drugs by hiding them in her lunchbox, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said previously. She was an Aramark food services employee who was hired in April 2023 and terminated June 22, 2023, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
As part of her sentence, Lucas also must complete 100 hours of community service and have no contact with her co-defendants.
Warren also was sentenced to three years of probation and was ordered to complete outpatient drug, alcohol and mental heath treatment, to obtain employment and have no contact with co-defendants in the case, according to court records.
Credit: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction
Credit: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction
Talbert pleaded guilty in August to involuntary manslaughter, and the other charges were dismissed as part of his plea. He reportedly “furnished those drugs to another inmate who died from ingesting those drugs,” a grand jury report read.
He was sentenced to 5-7½ years in prison, to begin after he completes a 7-year term he began in 2018 for felonious assault and weapons convictions out of Hamilton County. Talbert is incarcerated in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville and will be eligible for parole in October 2030, according to ODRC records.
About the Author
