Corrections officer accused of giving contraband to inmates

Oct 31, 2023

Jun 9, 2023

A corrections officer at the Bedford County Correctional Facility is himself behind bars after being accused of smuggling contraband to inmates.

Joshua David Markel, 32, of Altoona, was arraigned Thursday afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Kevin R. Diehl on a felony charge of contraband/controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of contraband/non-controlled substance. Unable to post $75,000 bail, he was remanded to jail. His preliminary hearing is June 14 in Bedford County Central Court.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, state police were notified Thursday morning by Warden Joseph Ichenlaub that a corrections officer was under investigation for bringing in contraband. Police were asked to investigate the matter, the report states.

Ichenlaub and Deputy Warden Adam Hale said that on Wednesday, corrections officers received an inmate statement form as well as a hand-written note from an inmate mentioning that Markel provided inmates in cell 10 with tobacco.

That prompted an internal investigation, and after listening to jail phone calls and viewing security video, cell 10 was searched. The search turned up an apple juice container with suspected tobacco grounds.

Police said video from 2:30 a.m. Tuesday shows Markel reach into his pocket and throw something into cell 10 before shutting the door.

The two inmates were interviewed and both admitted that Markel threw a latex glove filled with tobacco pouches into the cell. They told investigators that he has done this several times.

Before state police arrived Thursday, Markel was pulled from his duties and searched by Hale, who found nine tobacco pouches and a plastic bag containing 20 white pills.

Markel said the pills were for his own use and identified the pills as lorazepam.

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