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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Two men convicted of roles in the brutal beating of a fellow inmate last year in the Blair County Prison will be serving lengthy prison sentences.
President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle on Wednesday sentenced 44-year-old Richard Allen Ewing, Tyrone, to 20 to 40 years' incarceration for his role in directing the Sept. 15, 2022, assault.
Because that sentence was imposed to run consecutively to a sentence of 15 to 30 years imposed in November for drug trafficking and firearm offenses, Ewing's incarceration time adds up to 35 to 70 years.
Doyle also sentenced 42-year-old John Allen Jukes, Altoona, to 18.5 to 37 years' incarceration for the assault on a 40-year-old male victim, who suffered broken facial bones, eye injuries and pain that he described to the jury as 10 times worse than he ever experienced.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said Doyle went into the aggravated range of the state's sentencing guidelines for both Ewing and Jukes.
"She handed down sentences reflecting the conduct and behavior of these two inmates, and that should deter this kind of conduct and behavior in the future," Weeks said.
Trial testimony in May revealed that the assault developed after Ewing, Jukes and three fellow inmates conspired to keep the victim's cellmate from setting up a competing commissary.
The trial also included video recorded by the prison, showing E-block inmates including Ewing and Jukes, carrying plastic cups of prison "hooch" around the tables outside inmate cells, then gathering outside the cell where the victim was beaten.
The prison video showed Jukes and fellow inmates Delano Brown, Kyler Luckadoo and Korey Sitton entering the victim's cell after gaining access with the help of corrections officer Eric Dostal Jr., who no longer works at the prison. Criminal charges against Brown, Luckadoo, Sitton and Dostal are still pending in county court.
Trial testimony and video indicated that Ewing stayed outside the cell while the inmate was beaten. But it also revealed that Ewing talked with inmates outside the victim's cell and issued a command to seize the commissary items inside the cell.
Defense attorney Scott Pletcher, who represented Ewing at trial and at sentencing, reminded Doyle that his client wasn't inside the cell when the inmate was beaten. Video showed Ewing walking down the hall when the beating was believed to be happening.
Defense attorney Robert Donaldson said he will consider asking Doyle to reconsider Jukes' sentence.
"Before trial, the DA's offer to resolve the case was lower than the 18.5 years he got," Donaldson said.
Neither Ewing nor Jukes spoke at sentencing.
While the victim was in the courtroom, he relied on a victim witness advocate to read a statement on his behalf.
The Blair County jury that heard the case convicted both Ewing and Jukes of felony offenses of aggravated assault to cause serious bodily injury, assault by prisoner, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and assault by prisoner and simple assault. The jury returned verdicts about 40 minutes after leaving the courtroom for deliberations.
Weeks said outside court Wednesday that prison video was a key piece of trial evidence, secured by prison Deputy Warden Shaun Edmundson and provided to Hollidaysburg Police Detective Jeffrey Friday, who filed the charges.
"These two inmates (Ewing and Jukes) thought they ran the prison," Weeks said, referencing the prison video showing what he described as a frat-style party on E-block where inmates appeared to be consuming and under the influence of prison hooch.
"Their behavior reflected the belief that they wouldn't be held accountable," Weeks said.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.