On Thursday, January 15, 2026, Mark Charles Hackett entered a guilty plea to felony Delivery of Methamphetamine and a no contest plea to Criminal Solicitation – Murder of the First Degree on two consolidated Centre County cases.

The 64-year-old received a state prison sentence of 8 to 16 years and will serve approximately five additional years for violating parole from a prior state conviction.

Following a Centre County Drug Task Force investigation, Hackett was charged with drug delivery for selling several ounces of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. He was jailed at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

While in jail, Hackett approached another inmate who was scheduled to be released and requested that he kill a cooperating witness from Hackett’s drug delivery case. The inmate instead alerted the Centre County District Attorney’s Office to Hackett’s plan.

Subsequent investigation by the State Police, coordinated by ADA Hunter Fedora,
confirmed that Hackett offered two inmates money and methamphetamine in exchange
for killing the informant using an injection of Carfentanil.

“By coming forward when Mark Hackett asked the inmate to kill another person, the inmate may well have saved a life,” Assistant District Attorney Matt Metzger said.

“Hackett’s attempt to kill an informant speaks to a dangerous methamphetamine-fueled thought process which, in conjunction with his drug dealing, put the broader community at risk. Thanks to the courage of cooperating witnesses and the diligent efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police, the community is now a safer place.”