State Correctional Institution – Somerset

State Correctional Institution – Somerset is a medium-security, all-male correctional facility located outside Somerset, Pennsylvania, about 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) off the Somerset Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In March 2024, 44 of Pennsylvania's death row inmates were moved to Somerset.^[2] They were previously at SCI Phoenix, which continues to house other death penalty prisoners.^[3]

State Correctional Institution - Somerset

Location	Somerset Township / Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Status	Open
Security class	Medium security
Capacity	1,600[1]
Opened	1993
Managed by	Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Almost all of the prison is in Somerset Township,^[4] while a small portion is in Brothersvalley Township.^[5] The total land area is 240 acres (97 ha).^[3]

Construction of SCI - Somerset

SCI – Somerset was constructed at a cost^[1] of $82 million and was completed in 1993. The prison was constructed on the site of a farm. The campus covers 63 acres, inside and outside the perimeter fence.

Notable Inmates

Inmate Name	Register Number	Status	Details
Eric Frein	MY0275	Sentenced to death.	Perpetrator of the 2014 Pennsylvania State Police barracks attack in which he murdered Bryon Dickson and injured another officer.[6][7][8][9] After a large state-wide manhunt, Frein was captured and tried for his crimes.[10][11][12][13]
John Eichinger	GL3402	Sentenced to death.[14]	Convicted of murdering 4 people.[15]
James David Martin	GN0771	Serving a sentence of 22-to-44 years.	Murdered 3 people between 1989-2005.[16][17][18]
Richard Andrew Poplawski	KB7354	Sentenced to death.[19]	Perpetrator of the 2009 shooting of Pittsburgh police officers in which he murdered three cops after a 9-1-1 call from his mom's home.[20][21][22]
Clayton P. Carter III	QA3283[23]	Sentenced to life.[24][25]	Shot his next-door neighbor to death after a dispute.[26]
Raghunandan Yandamuri	LU3857	Sentenced to death.[27]	Convicted of the kidnapping-murder of Saanvi Venna and murdering Satyavathi Venna.[27]

See also

• List of Pennsylvania state prisons
• Capital punishment in Pennsylvania