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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The state Department of Corrections is moving ahead with plans to release some state prison inmates, but Huntingdon County resident Bradley McMullen, serving five to 10 years for supplying the stolen gun used in 2016 to kill state Trooper Landon Weaver won't be among them.
McMullen was initially on a list of potential inmates to be released through a reprieve order designed to cut the state prison populations and reduce the potential COVID-19 exposure for inmates and staff.
McMullen's name was removed from the list Friday, the day after Huntingdon County President Judge George Zanic filed a letter with Gov. Tom Wolf, questioning why McMullen was included.
"What was Mr. McMullen's non-violent crime?" Zanic asked in letter to Wolf, referencing a description the governor used when referencing inmates eligible for early release. "(McMullen) stole the gun that was used to murder Pennsylvania State Trooper Landon Weaver on Dec. 30, 2016, and sold it to Trooper Weaver's killer for five doses of Suboxone."
"How many more Bradley McMullens are hiding on your mass release list?" Zanic asked.
The state Department of Corrections' website, as of late Wednesday, was updated to list eight state prison inmates, none from central Pennsylvania counties, who were approved for release to their homes or halfway houses. More, including ones from Blair and surrounding counties, are expected to be added, based on Wolf's reprieve order.
In that order, Wolf authorized the release of up to 1,800 inmates that he said would include ones serving time for nonviolent offenses and within nine months of their minimum incarceration time. Inmates within 12 months of their minimum incarceration time could be considered if they have conditions putting them at heightened risk.
As part of that plan, the state corrections department distributed lists to courts and to county and state prosecutors, prompting Zanic's reaction, along with questions from Huntingdon County District Attorney David Smith about McMullen.
"Our point was, why was he even being considered?" Smith asked.
State Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said Wednesday in a teleconference that having the input of county district attorneys and judges is an important part of the process because they often have information about inmates' cases that would preclude release, such as the case with McMullen.
"I think that letter is a testament to that," Wetzel said of Zanic's written concerns.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said Wednesday that he reviewed and commented on each of the 23 inmates sentenced in Blair County who were on the state's list for potential release.
"Quite a few involved drug offenses, which I've always maintained is a violent offense," Weeks said. "But there were also ones on the list with a firearm or history of firearm offenses … and one (rendered a guilty plea) to running a methamphetamine lab."
Smith praised the governor and the state corrections department for removing McMullen's name, but like Weeks, Smith raised questions about others were on the state's list, including ones Smith said shouldn't be freed.
Smith said Huntingdon County's list includes a woman with multiple DUI and endangering the welfare of a child convictions. It also includes an inmate involved in an intercounty drug ring that funneled large quantities of heroin into Huntingdon County, he said.
"Why are we putting our communities at risk by doing this?" Weeks asked. "At a time when people are laid off, when children are being kept out of school and when people who are working are faced with having to make child care arrangements … it doesn't make any sense to me as to why we're letting the inmates out while everybody else is making sacrifices."
When the governor signed the executive order, he indicated that releasing the inmates will save lives and help stop the spread of the virus and avoid overwhelming Pennsylvania's already-burdened health care system. So far, the state Department of Corrections, which houses 44,000 inmates, has identified 17 inmates and 23 employees testing positive for COVID-19. It has reported one inmate death: Robert Sutton, 67, at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Collegeville, Montgomery County, on April 8. Sutton was serving a life sentence for murder and he was identified as a client of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, a legal group that works to exonerate people who say they were wrongly convicted.
Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458 and Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.