(WHTM) \u2013 Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections Dr. Laurel Harry was targeted in an assassination threat by the inmate who allegedly planned to harm Governor Josh Shapiro and first lady Lori Shapiro.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence filed two misdemeanor terroristic threat charges on July 15 against Corey Alan Bennett, an inmate at SCI Camp Hill.<\/p>\n
According to court records, on May 26, a letter was delivered to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections that contained specific threats against a Department of Corrections attorney and Secretary Harry.<\/p>\n
According to the letter, Bennett stated he did not want to be transferred to a special program at SCI Fayette, a maximum-security prison. Bennett stated that if he was transferred, he had a “well thought out plan to stab and kill a SCI Fayette member than escape from prison at SCI Fayette,” according to court records.<\/p>\n
From there, investigators say Bennett planned to go to the home of a DOC attorney, tie them up, and harm their children, “assassinate and kill the Secretary of Corrections Laurel Harry and as many Central Office Staff as possible” before being killed by police.<\/p>\n
“Im not doing the SMU program,” the letter concludes.<\/p>\n
An investigator stated they interviewed Bennett at SCI Dallas, who confirmed he wrote and sent the letter.<\/p>\n
“Additionally, during the interview Inmate Bennett admitted he intended to act on his threats if his demands were not met,” the investigator wrote.<\/p>\n
Bennett, 34, remains incarcerated at SCI Camp Hill after previously being convicted of rape and acts of violence against prison staff.<\/p>\n
“The PADOC takes all threats against its employees seriously and our Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence is working closely with the Pennsylvania State Police on this investigation,” the department’s press secretary said in a statement Wednesday. “Because this is an active criminal matter, we are unable to comment further.”<\/p>\n
Harry was nominated by Shapiro to serve as the Secretary of Corrections<\/a> in January 2023 after 24 years with the department. The state’s first female Corrections Secretary, she previously served as Superintendent at SCI Camp Hill and was named the 2019 Warden of the Year by the PA Prison Wardens Association.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania State Police say Bennett will also be charged for allegedly threatening to kill the governor and first lady, and attack the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. Charges in that case remain pending.<\/p>\n In an interview with abc27, Lt. Col. George Bivens, the Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, shared that Bennett has ties to the Crips gang<\/a> and his threats “involve using contacts outside of the prison to try and inflict the violence.”<\/p>\n This latest threat against Shapiro comes after an overnight arson attack on the Governor’s Residence<\/a>\u00a0last year while the governor and his family slept inside.<\/p>\n The attack led to at\u00a0least $32 million in security upgrades<\/a> at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg, and additional security upgrades at Shapiro’s private home in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n “I never say that we can protect against every possible scenario, but what I will tell you is we’ve done, I think, a pretty darn good job of it,” added Bivens. “We have put in place security measures unlike anything has ever been seen. And I would put us up against any state in the country for those security measures.”<\/p>\n The increased threats against politicians across Pennsylvania led to Bivens\u00a0creating a special unit solely to combat political violence.<\/a><\/p>\n “We are keeping multiple investigators busy full time in that unit conducting these investigations,” Bivens said.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n