A former guard at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center pleaded guilty Monday to having a romantic sexual relationship with a woman being held in the prison.
David Courvelle pleaded guilty to one count sexual abuse of a ward or individual in federal custody. He was allowed to remain free on a $10,000 unsecured bond until his April sentencing. He faces up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
As part of a plea agreement, he was charged in a Bill of Information and waived indictment by a grand jury, court records show.
Courvelle admitted that, between March and July of this year, he had a relationship with a Nicaraguan woman being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, a privately-owned facility in Basile under contract with the federal government.
Courvelle admitted to having a "personal and romantic relationship" which included sexual acts with the woman, who was being held at the facility on "an immigration-related matter," court documents state. He would have other inmates serve as look-outs when he and the woman were in a janitor's closet, and "smuggled gifts such as food, jewelry, letters and pictures" of the woman's daughter into the prison for her. They also talked on the phone about their relationship, the documents state.
In mid-July, another guard saw them coming out of the closet together, and shortly after that Courvelle was transferred to another area of the prison. He resigned at the end of July, after he learned that prison administration had recordings of his calls with the woman. But when he was questioned by authorities in September, he at first denied the relationship - before finally admitting to it, the documents state.
