HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Prison Warden Michael Hale is commending two corrections officers for their efforts in keeping illegal substances out of the Mulberry Street facility where he says those substances would have been worth thousands.

In a Tuesday meeting with the county prison board, Hale praised corrections officers Shannon Booker and Timothy Williamson for their on-the-job efforts leading to the most recent criminal charges filed against inmate Ricky Sharief Joyner, 45, accusing him of contraband smuggling.

Charges indicate that Booker and Williamson were with Joyner on May 18 when they transported him to the Station Medical Center, 1500 Ninth Ave., for one of Joyner’s regularly scheduled appointments.

Upon arriving at the center, Booker searched a restroom and found no contraband. But after the appointment concluded, Williamson searched the same restroom — which Joyner frequently asks to use before leaving — and located a stash of contraband, including a vacuum-sealed bag of marijuana, vapes, vape cartridges, tobacco and rolling papers.

The items were reported to be found under a trash bag inside a restroom’s trash can.

Hale, referencing a photo of the contraband that the corrections officers collected and submitted upon returning to the prison, spoke of high prices paid inside the jail for marijuana cigarettes and vapes.

“Their actions stopped thousands of dollars of contraband from coming into the prison,” the warden said.

Hale reported the chain-of-events to Hollidaysburg and Altoona police, which initiated an investigation that included the review of prison phone call records linking Joyner to Mandi L. Claycomb, 42, and Chedell M. Henderson, 39, of Altoona.

Records associated with those calls in April and May indicate that Joyner was relying on the pair for contraband items that would be left at the medical center’s restroom on dates coinciding with his medical appointments.

Joyner, who was supposed to be on trial this week in Blair County court on drug-trafficking charges, indicated in court on Tuesday that in exchange for a sentence of 14- to 30-years’ incarceration, he would enter guilty pleas to those charges and to a downgraded charge of voluntary manslaughter to address the November 2022 overdose death of Marlana Koehle, 26, Altoona. The sentence, to be handed down July 14, is also expected to address Joyner’s contraband charges that include dealing in unlawful proceeds, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver.

Online court records indicate that Claycomb and Henderson have been in the county prison since their arrest on May 28. Bail is set at $500,000 each. Preliminary hearings are slated for June 10 before Magisterial District Judge Ben Jones.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.