Jail escape plot adds time to lengthy sentence

Sanderlin
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A former Blair County Prison inmate who planned a jailbreak in August 2023 has been sentenced to serve an additional two to four years’ incarceration.
Jason Zackery Sanderlin, 24, now an inmate at the state Correctional Institute at Somerset, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 13 in Blair County court to charges of attempted escape, criminal conspiracy to escape, possessing an instrument of crime and institutional vandalism.
Sanderlin, in July, was sentenced to eight to 16 years’ incarceration for robbery, burglary, aggravated assault and related charges in two unrelated cases. Those charges were based on two incidents — one in which he kicked in the door of a Tyrone apartment to steal marijuana and cash and an unrelated incident in which he plotted the robbery and assault of a woman at Gospel Hill in Altoona.
The charges Sanderlin addressed with guilty pleas on Jan. 13 reflect an escape effort that he and fellow inmate Joseph Michael Mazza were accused of, as discovered on Aug. 12, 2023, based on damage to an interior wall. Mazza’s charges are still pending in county court.
In accepting Sanderlin’s pleas, presented via video from SCI Somerset, Judge Jackie Bernard recognized that the negotiated plea called for a consecutive sentence, to follow the one he is now serving. Defense attorney Robert Donaldson, who negotiated the sentence with the district attorney’s office, confirmed for Bernard that his client’s total sentence becomes 10 to 20 years’ incarceration.
Donaldson and Assistant District Attorney Morgan Menard also told Bernard that Sanderlin would receive no credit for time served toward the two to four years’ incarceration because his credit was previously applied toward the sentence handed down in July.
Sanderlin, who was apologetic at his sentencing in July, advised Bernard that he is making an effort to get his high school diploma and is working inside the prison.
Sanderlin also said he was willing to engage in cognitive behavioral therapy, as Bernard proposed and included in his sentencing order. She said the therapy would give him a chance to gain a greater understanding of the reasons behind his actions and to make better decisions.
“This case has a tremendous amount of bad decision-making,” the judge told Sanderlin.
Hollidaysburg Borough police, in December 2023, charged Sanderlin and Mazza in the attempted jailbreak after an investigation revealed that they had used a broom handle to remove glass blocks from a prison wall. They also were found with a rope from prison-issued clothing.
Their plot was foiled after a fellow inmate learned of the plan and directed his girlfriend to tell a trusted police officer in Windber. Based on the relayed information, the plot called for hurting or killing those who got in the way, including prison visitors, and for stealing their vehicles.
In response to that information, the county prison was put on lockdown and a security check initiated. That led to the discovery of the broken window.
In comments published after the escape attempt became public, Warden Abbie Tate said there was no threat of inmates escaping because they damaged an interior wall that led to a reinforced wall and no outside access.
Menard advised the judge that no restitution request was filed as a result of the damage.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.