The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in July freed an Altoona man who was serving a lengthy prison term for drug offenses because it received an “authentic order” from a Blair County judge allowing the inmate’s release, according to a DOC spokeswoman.

Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron issued the order on June 26 that set the inmate’s bail pending the outcome of an appeal before the Pennsylvania Superior Court at $10,000 unsecured, meaning the inmate was not required to come up with any money to gain his release.

Milliron rescinded the June 26 order on July 11.

However, by that time the inmate, Shawn Edward Gibson, 49, had already been released, unbeknownst to local authorities, who, as recently as this past week, thought he was still incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Pine Grove in Indiana County.

State court records show that Gibson’s release came on July 5 after proper bail papers were filled out.

This was a day after the Mirror published an article in which Milliron expressed doubts that his June 26 order was appropriate and noted he was reconsidering another hearing for Gibson at which the bail question, among other issues, would be raised.

Pennsylvania has an inmate locator, and Gibson was, until his release, listed as being housed at Pine Grove.

His name ceased to be on the Inmate Locator upon his release, and the Department of Corrections, in view of Milliron’s rescinded order, was asked why Gibson was not still listed as a state prison inmate.

It took DOC’s Director of Communications, Susan McNaughton, several days to conduct a review of the Gibson release, and on Wednesday, she issued a statement pointing out that the department received Milliron’s June 26 bail order that complied with state bail and sentencing rules.

“The DOC is not party to the case and must comply with authentic orders of the court,” according to the DOC review of the release.

The state agency took several steps before releasing the 49-year-old Gibson.

First officials determined Milliron’s order was authentic.

The next step was to contact the Blair County District Attorney’s Office to determine its opinion concerning the order and to ensure that the DA would not oppose the release by seeking a stay or filing a challenge.

“Mr. Gibson was released accordingly on July 8, 2019,” according to the DOC findings, McNaughton said.

The DOC indicated that it determined Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure require any bail request go before a judge in the county Court of Common Pleas.

It cited Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 521 that permits bail after the finding of guilt where the possible sentence is less than two years.

Although Gibson was serving a sentence of five to 10 years for drug offenses that occurred in 2009, Milliron, reviewing the Rules of Criminal Procedure and reviewing cases decided by the state’s appeals courts, pointed to a 2002 case which stated bail is valid until a defendant exhausts his direct appeal rights.

Gibson had already exhausted his direct appeal rights, but in a 2019 case, the Superior Court ruled that despite the 2002 ruling, a petitioner (like Gibson, who has an appeal before the Superior Court) “may be admitted to bail pending disposition of the petition when such an order would be necessary in the interest of justice in certain exceptional cases for compelling reasons.”

Milliron explained for the Mirror’s July 4 article that his June 26 order was issued because he believed it represented “manifest justice” for Gibson, who had already served his minimum term behind bars.

As Milliron explained in that June 26 order, Gibson’s release is in the hands of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.

His June 26 order, offered as explanation, stated:

“…the court believes it has the authority to have the defendant released pending any appeal (Gibson’s appeal to the Superior Court), and hereby orders his release.

“There is simply no reason to keep the defendant incarcerated any longer on this matter while said appeal is pending,” Milliron’s order stated.

Milliron did not return a call seeking further explanation.

Blair County First Assistant District Attorney Peter Weeks said he was contacted by the DOC concerning Milliron’s order.

He told the Mirror on Wednesday the DA’s office did not object to Gibson’s release because Gibson had already served his minimum.

Milliron, he pointed out, earlier this year ordered Gibson to be resentenced because his original sentence included mandatories that have since been declared unconstitutional, which means, Weeks noted, Gibson’s resentencing will likely result in a lesser sentence than the one he has been serving.

The judge earlier this year granted resentencing under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Alleyne v. The United States, a 2013 ruling that declared many of Pennsylvania’s mandatory sentences unconstitutional.

Gibson, however, appealed the judge’s order refusing to overturn the guilty verdicts in his case to the Superior Court.

Court records show the papers in the Gibson case were forwarded to the Superior Court on July 24, which means it will be several months before the appeals court makes its ruling.

Milliron recently appointed Hollidaysburg attorney Paul Puskar to represent Gibson in the appeal, noting “the court simply wants the defendant’s matter to move forward as quickly as possible.”

While the judge questioned his June 26 order, on July 11 he rescinded it.

Blair County officials, including Weeks and Puskar, did not know that Gibson had been released, and the county this week sent a hearing notice to Gibson at SCI Pine Grove concerning his upcoming hearing.

Gibson has been in trouble with the law since July 22, 2009, when members of the West Drug Task Force entered his Altoona home and found bags of cocaine in the trap in his toilet and a pound of marijuana under the bathroom sink.

He contended the drugs were not his and that somebody else had left the drugs in his home during a party from the night before.