CLEARFIELD – A man who escaped the Quehanna Boot Camp was sentenced to additional state prison time during sentencing court Thursday.
Joshua D. Lackey, 36, pleaded guilty to felony counts of escape and criminal use of a communication facility before Judge Paul E. Cherry, who sentenced him to 30 to 60 months in state prison.
Police say they were notified on July 5, 2023 at 1:51 a.m. by staff at SCI Quehanna that Lackey had escaped by running out a fire escape door and into the woods surrounding the facility.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, officials reviewed Lackey’s phone calls prior to his escape and discovered Lackey had called his girlfriend to make arrangements for her to pick him up.
Troopers were able to find and recapture Lackey a short distance away from the facility.
In an interview with investigators, Lackey admitted to asking his girlfriend to pick him up. After he ran out the door, he said he went to the road in front of the facility, but she was not there waiting for him. He then ran into the wooded area where he waited until police captured him.
Online court documents indicate that in March 2023, Lackey was sentenced in Westmoreland County to 18 to 36 months in state prison for felony theft. His previous record includes resisting arrest, assault, drug and paraphernalia charges.
Lackey was at the Quehanna Boot Camp as a participant in the state drug treatment program.