SNOW HILL — A Washington, D.C. man, already serving time in the Worcester County Jail for a credit card conviction last week, was found guilty of second-degree assault after throwing a cup full of urine at a correctional officer at the facility and was sentenced to an additional two-and-half years.
Last Friday, a Worcester County jury found Lawrence Prince, 24, guilty of second-degree assault stemming from an incident at the county jail dating back to last September. On Sept. 26, 2012, a Worcester County Jail correctional officer was assigned to the facility’s maximum security wing where he encountered Prince, who was serving an 18-month sentence for credit card fraud.
Prince allegedly urinated in a cup and through both the cup and the urine onto the correctional officer. As a result, Prince was charged with second-degree assault. Prince appeared in Circuit Court last Friday for a jury trial and denied the allegations, asserting a different inmate did it.
However, the jury rejected his claim and returned a guilty verdict in less than 15 minutes. At sentencing, the prosecutor said assaults on any branch of law enforcement in the criminal justice system should not be tolerated and added a tough sentence in Prince’s case would send the appropriate message to the inmate population in Worcester County.
Circuit Court Judge Richard Bloxom acknowledged he “takes assaults on correctional officers very seriously” and then sentenced Prince to an additional 30 months, or two-and-a-half years in the Department of Corrections to be served consecutive to his current sentence.
Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby was pleased with jury verdict and subsequent sentencing for Prince.
“Correctional officers keep the good people of this county safe by minding some of the worst,” he said. “They deserve our unwavering support and gratitude.”