Two inmates who held a guard for hostage in a smoke-free prison said they would go back to their cells if the officials presented them with tobacco.

Howard Carlton, warden of the Northeast Correctional Complex said the two inmates Billy Grubb, 32, and Bradley Johnson, 25, attacked the guard Monday night and held him hostage for six hours.

However, as the night progressed, they said, "Look, we'll give up if you let us have some tobacco. If you do that, we'll go back to our cell." Once they were given the cigarettes, the two inmates quietly slipped back to their cell and locked themselves back in.

Grubb is serving life without parole for first-degree murder and Johnson is serving a 25-year to life sentence for second-degree murder. An investigation into how both came out of their cells is carried out and both have subsequently been transferred to other prisons.