Former inmate sues Blair County Prison for mental distress
Pellow claims 48 hours behind bars caused mental distress
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A former Duncansville man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Blair County officials and the county prison contending his 48 hours behind bars more than a year ago caused him "mental distress, anxiety, and a well founded fear for his physical safety."
According to his lawsuit, Jesse D. Pellow, 45, was taken into custody by police on March 6, 2025.
Pellow stated in his lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown last Friday that he was placed in an overcrowded cell.
Pellow, who now lists his address as Richmond, Va., said he suffered physical pain and swelling in his wrists due to the handcuffs and bruising associated with his arrest on a warrant.
As a result of his March 6 arrest, he was charged with flight to avoid apprehension, flight to avoid arrest and resisting arrest.
Once in custody, Pellow complained he received no medical intake screening and even over-the-counter pain relief was denied.
Also, Pellow, in his court petition, stated he was placed in a "severely overcrowded" intake cell.
That cell, Pellow stated, included a "highly volatile, unclassified lockdown inmate" who harassed him and threatened his physical safety.
He noted that he had to sleep that night on a plastic mat spread across the concrete floor of his cell. Pellow stated that he was eventually removed from the overcrowded cell -- only after threatening to file a federal civil rights lawsuit.
The next morning, March 7, deputies placed him in a prison transport van to take him before Blair County Judge David B. Consiglio.
He complained he was forced to remain in the transport van for more than an hour.
During this time, he said he missed a meal, noting the defendants failed to provide him with a "nutritionally adequate alternative."
"The 48 hours of unconstitutional, punitive conditions endured by the Plaintiff (Pellow) were the direct and foreseeable result of the systematic operations customs maintained by Blair County and its Prison Board," Pellow concluded.
He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, according to his lawsuit.
As Pellow pointed out, his lawsuit is one of about 80 filed recently by inmates or former inmates of the 157-year-old facility.
State court records show the charges brought against Pellow in March 2025 are still awaiting a trial date.
He has another open case from December 2024 in which he is accused of stalking.