City man guilty in prison OD case
Miller convicted of contraband charges in connection to ‘chaotic’ night
HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man has been convicted of felony contraband charges in connection with what was described as a “chaotic” night at the Blair County Prison nine months ago, when four inmates from E-Block were transported to UPMC Altoona Hospital for treatment of drug overdoses.
Brandol Richard Miller, 30, tried to convince a jury that he didn’t intentionally possess or consume the drug that caused him and other inmates to become ill and pass out on April 10, 2024.
The jury, however, issued guilty verdicts Wednesday on charges of inmate possession of a controlled substance/contraband and a related criminal conspiracy charge.
Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky said Friday that he will consider asking Judge Jackie Bernard to impose a state sentence in light of Miller’s latest convictions and criminal history.
Defense attorney Scott Pletcher said Friday that he will argue for a county sentence because Miller has already suffered enough.
“This was almost a completely circumstantial case and I think Brandol deserves leniency because of that,” Pletcher said.
Miller spent a week in the UPMC Altoona after being transported there from the prison after being revived with Narcan to counter the overdose he was experiencing. At the hospital, Miller started having difficulty breathing, prompting staff to put him into a medically-induced coma and keep him on a ventilator and hospitalized for about a week.
Elensky asked the jury to reject Miller’s claims of not knowing how he consumed what was identified during trial as pure fentanyl.
“This was a very serious medical emergency that day,” Elensky said. “Mr. Miller had no pulse. He wasn’t breathing. His lips were blue and it took various life-saving measures to save him.”
Dr. Matthew Bouchard, director of the hospital’s emergency room, told the jury that based on his review of Miller’s medical records, he would conclude that Miller snorted or injected the fentanyl.
Pletcher asked Bouchard during cross-examination about the potential for airborne exposure or exposure through touch. Bouchard said those types of suggested transmissions have been debunked because they usually don’t happen.
Miller, who testified in his own defense, suggested his exposure might have come from the floor of his jail cell, while he was exercising or kneeling to pray.
Pletcher asked Bouchard if it’s possible that the drug was put into Miller’s food or drink, which Bouchard deemed would be a really odd scenario.
“That’s not a common route of ingestion,” Bouchard said. “If you’re looking for a high, that’s not how you’re going to do it … The (reaction) from the oral ingestion would be much slower.”
Elensky also called in county prison personnel, investigating police officers and emergency responders to address the risk caused by the contraband incident.
Prison Sgt. Chad Murray told the jury that, while he regularly deals with contraband in the prison, he had never before encountered four inmates who were believed to have overdosed.
“They were unresponsive and vomiting,” Murray said.
Deputy Warden Sean Edmundson said that when he arrived, ambulances were on site, corrections officers were outside and inmates were being moved in and out of the area for medical treatment.
“It looked very fast-paced and chaotic,” Edmundson testified.
Hollidaysburg Police Sgt. Richard Oldham, whose body camera recording was played during trial, showed the officer and emergency medical responders questioning an inmate about what he consumed, where he got it and if more inmates had access to the substance.
“If this keeps happening,” one of the emergency responders told that inmate, “we don’t have enough resources and people are going to be dying.”
While Miller remained hospitalized, three fellow inmates — Nathan Weaver, Joshua Claar and Niheim Miller, who were charged with contraband and conspiracy to possess contraband — were returned to prison after treatment. Court records show Niheim Miller addressed his charges with guilty pleas for a sentence of one- to two-years’ incarceration. Claar rendered guilty pleas to his charges for five years’ probation. Weaver’s charges are still pending.
Testifying witnesses indicated that prison and police personnel, with the help of drug-sniffing dogs, searched the facility after the incident. While the dogs alerted on two E-block cells, including the cell where the unconscious inmates were found, no drugs were found in either cell.