Former prison officer sentenced to 3 months for lying to grand jury

DAVENPORT — A former Iowa corrections officer was sentenced this week to three months in federal prison for lying to a grand jury about a health care fraud investigation involving his wife.

Lashaun Calvin Lacy, 44, of Iowa City, a former corrections officer at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville, pleaded guilty in April to providing false declarations before a grand jury.

He was subpoenaed to testify in federal court about health care fraud committed by his wife, Tykeesa McCray, who was convicted earlier this year.

Court documents state Lacy was asked where he was living from 2010 to 2019 when McCray had obtained federal benefits for food, housing, child care and medical assistance.

He provided false information, even after McCray had been caught and “essentially” admitted her wrongdoing to authorities during an interview where Lacy was present, according to a sentencing document.

Federal prosecutors didn’t think Lacy would have trouble giving truthful testimony July 8 of last year because he was a corrections officer, and “honesty and integrity should have been important values” in that job, the document noted.

But after being sworn under oath, Lacy “conjured up a fanciful” story about how he had been homeless for many years, living out of his vehicle during that time period, according to court documents.

He told the grand jury that he kept most of his personal belongings in his vehicle and slept there while parking in a city park or his work parking lot, according to his testimony.

Lacy also said he had lived with another woman and hadn’t provided financial help to his wife and children.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Searle, in a sentencing document, said Lacy made more than a misrepresentation to the grand jury — he “engaged in a pattern of deceitful conduct over a substantial period of time to further the fraud and escape detection.”

Lacy, according to the sentencing guidelines, had faced up to 18 months in prison.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of the Inspector General investigated the case, along with the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals.

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