Inmate trying to escape Fayette County Jail did thousands of dollars in damage, police say

FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — Authorities foiled an elaborate escape plan that was drawn up by a man in the Fayette County Jail, charged in a murder-for-hire plot

Calvin Huffman had never been locked up at the new Fayette County Jail before last week.

“This is a brand new facility,” said District Attorney Mike Aubele. “To my knowledge, he is completely unfamiliar with it.”

Huffman was brought to the Fayette County Jail from Bedford County to face murder-for-hire charges. He was in the Bedford County Jail on unrelated charges.

In July, police charged him for allegedly hiring a 14-year-old to kill another man in Uniontown last year.

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In the few days he was in the Fayette County Jail, police say he hatched an elaborate plan on how to escape.

“It was extremely worrisome,” Aubele told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.

Aubele said Huffman wrote a six-page letter and gave it to another inmate he knew.

Huffman allegedly told that inmate to give the letter to their mom, but not to read it.

That inmate was suspicious, so they handed it over to the guards.

“Certainly, if this letter had gotten out, there’s a possibility this escape could have been successful, and a lot of people could have been put in danger,” Aubele said.

Aubele said the letter outlined how someone needed to come to a recreation room door and use a plasma torch to cut through the door. He also wrote where that torch could be purchased.

“He had certainly done his research and he certainly picked this location, scouted this location, and very specifically put this location out,” Aubele said.

Guards took Huffman to a restrictive housing area after intercepting the letter. There, the district attorney said Huffman threatened the guards and damaged jail property.

These are pictures that show the sprinkler system Huffman allegedly ripped out of the wall, causing the new jail to flood.

“I’d say the damage is probably in the tens, if not the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Aubele said.

Aubele said this has been nothing new for guards to deal with since Huffman has been in custody.

“He’s threatened witnesses, he’s threatened victims. He’s done everything to try to make sure we can’t take this case to trial,” Aubele said.

Now, Huffman has been transferred to a state facility out of the county, and other inmates involved in this case have been moved for their safety.

The district attorney said the new jail and the board can learn from this.

“We’ll take this to the prison board and we’ll make necessary changes to make sure that if another letter or another attempt like this is made, there will be even less of a likelihood of success,” he said.

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