Arthur Fields, 53, suffered an apparent heart attack on Monday while leaving the gymnasium, according to a news release from the prison.

Walters said corrections officers and medical staff provided immediate emergency first aid before Fields was taken by ambulance to the hospital at Sharon Regional Health System, where the attending physician pronounced him dead.

Consistent with Department of Corrections' policy, institutional staff had notified the Pennsylvania State Police and the Mercer County Coroner to determine the official cause of death.

Fields had been at the prison since 1998 serving a 5- to 20-year sentence for rape and indecent assault on a 1995 Philadelphia County conviction. Institution staff has notified Fields' next of kin.