A woman who counseled drug offenders for the county is awaiting trial on charges that she obstructed justice.

Ilyasha Z. Michael, 33, stands accused of having a personal relationship with a Lancaster County Drug Court participant, Hector Manuel Ramos, 23, while he was under her guidance in 2006, according to a criminal complaint filed in Lancaster County Court.

Michael denied that she had ever met with Ramos outside of her official duties, according to the court documents.

The alleged violation is a second-degree misdemeanor, according to the criminal complaint.

The case, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Ilyasha Z. Michael, has been continued until October, said Chief County Detective Michael Landis, one of the investigators, said last week.

Michael, of Lancaster, is no longer working at the Drug Court but is employed by the county as a drug and alcohol caseworker, according to courthouse sources.

Mark F. Walmer, Michael's attorney, said Friday that she declined to comment about the case. But he pointed to her "spotless professional career" and said that "We fully expect her to be acquitted.

"All of the allegations are coming from a man with a criminal history and admitted drug addiction," Walmer said.

"You need to consider the source" of the allegations," said Walmer, who contended that the plaintiff's claims were largely circumstantial and unsubstantiated by independent parties.

Ramos was charged last year with retail theft and falsely identifying himself to police, according to newspaper records. He was also cited for retail theft in 2004.

Michael graduated from Leadership Lancaster in 2005. A biography of her published in the newspaper that year noted that she served on the Lancaster City Housing Authority and Keep Lancaster Beautiful, and that she was interested in the arts and culture.

In 2000, the former dean's list student at Shippensburg University was one of nine graduates of Project Blueprint, a minority leadership program.

According to the complaint filed Nov. 3, 2006, Michael engaged in a sexual relationship with Ramos from January to June 2006 while she was a Drug Court officer and counselor.

During that time, the district attorney's office charges, she overlooked positive drug tests on Ramos, supplied him with advanced knowledge of random weekend drug tests, gave him money to support his drug addiction, advised him how to beat drug tests and threatened to have him removed from Drug Court and sent to state prison if he ended their relationship.

An affidavit of probable cause filed Dec. 14, 2006, states that Ramos absconded from the Drug Court program and was committed to Lancaster County Prison in February 2006.

Ramos related during a June 2006 session with Judge David Ashworth that he blamed Michael for his continuing problem with drug addiction, the court records said.

Several days later, according to the records, Ramos reiterated his accusations in a three-page letter to the judge.

When Michael was questioned by detectives, the documents said, she denied Ramos' claims and denied that she ever gave him her home address or telephone number.

Michael told authorities that she had allowed Ramos into her residence for less than a minute one time to use the bathroom, court records said.

Ramos claimed he had been inside the apartment more than 20 times and gave Landis and Detective Dennis L. Arnold a detailed description of the interior, the court papers said.

While in Lancaster County Prison, court papers say, Ramos asked fellow inmate Maximo Valentin to help him call Michael's home on the evening of March 1, 2006.

Valentin subsequently phoned his girlfriend, Arlene Colomba-Cotto, who "called Ilyasha Michael's home phone number using a cell phone but keeping her home phone line open with the prison phone line."

County Det. Joanne Resh later reviewed the conversation, which was taped by an inmate phone call recording system; according to the affidavit, the detective verified that Michael said she would go to the prison March 3, 2006, and talk with Ramos about getting him out.

The affidavit stated that the prison subsequently documented a 57-minute morning "legal visit" by Michael.

The visit was deemed "atypical" by Drug Court coordinator Mark Mowery, according to the affidavit.

According to the court papers, Mowery told detectives that it was unusual for a Drug Court employee to arrange a bed for Ramos at the Nuestra Clinica inpatient drug treatment facility prior to a Drug Court team meeting to discuss his status.

But Walmer contended that the call and visit were well within the scope of Michael's official responsibilities.

"That's her job," he said. "She was actually doing what she was supposed to do."

Also called into question in the county court documents was the pattern of urine sampling administered to Ramos at the Drug Court program.

Although Mowery told detectives that urine tests are typically observed by a same-sex employee, the affidavit continued, "Drug Court records reflect that Michael tested and documented 24 of the 43 drug urine tests administered to Ramos."

Detectives interviewed other officials and Ramos family members and neighbors to gather information about the alleged relationship between Michael and Ramos.

Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.