By BERNIE HORNICK
Before he heads off to state prison, killer Antonio Winkleman is leaving Cambria County something to remember him by: A federal lawsuit.
Winkleman is making the sensational claim that – on orders of Warden John Prebish – he was kept naked in solitary confinement for five days in December 2007 following his homicide arrest.
Prebish denied the allegations.
“Nobody is ever kept naked in a cell,” the warden said.
If an inmate is a suicide or a security risk and not given regular prison clothing, he is given a security smock or a safety smock – a type of gown. That is a safety precaution.
The warden said that he did not recall Winkleman being placed on either type of watch.
County commissioner President P.J. Stevens said Tuesday, “I have every confidence in the administration of this prison.
“Anybody can file a lawsuit; that doesn’t make it so.’’
The inmate says in his self-filed lawsuit that his constitutional rights were violated.
Winkleman is asking for $850,000 in the suit against the Cambria County Prison and Prebish. The case is in U.S. District Court in Johnstown.
Winkleman said he was singled out for abuse “because of the alleged severity of the case.''
He pleaded guilty in January to third-degree murder in the December 9, 2007, shooting death of Scott Ickes at Ickes' home in Elton. Authorities said Ickes had been asking Winkleman for cocaine.
Other improper treatment that Winkleman claims he was subject to included:
• Not being able to exercise on a daily basis.
• Searches of his outgoing mail.
In a required questionnaire accompanying his prisoner lawsuit, Winkleman said that he filed a grievance through the prison system.
“I never received an answer or any hearing on the matter,’’ he then wrote.
