Joyce Mitchell, who worked as a supervisor at the tailor shop of
Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, faces up to seven years
in prison after accepting a deal with prosecutors in which she
admitted smuggling hacksaw blades and a screwdriver bit to help
Richard Matt and David Sweat escape on June 6.
Mitchell, 51, has said she agreed to drive a getaway car for Matt
and Sweat but at the last minute she had second thoughts about
meeting the escapees as they emerged from a manhole outside the
prison walls in the early morning hours.
"I had no intention of ever meeting them," Mitchell said in an
interview with NBC's "Today" that aired earlier this month. "I'm
just someone who got caught up in something she couldn't get out
of."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/28/images/ads/current/pestcontrol_bch_fleas_061215.png) After a three-week manhunt through the Adirondack Mountains, Matt,
49, was fatally shot by a federal agent on June 26 about 27 miles
(43 km) away from the prison. Sweat, 35, was captured two days later
about 2 miles (3 km) from the Canadian border.
Sweat had been scheduled to appear in Plattsburgh City Court on
Tuesday to face felony escape charges, but his case was pulled from
the docket, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said on
Friday in an email, without elaborating.
Wylie declined to say whether Sweat and his assigned counsel, Joseph
Mucia, were considering a possible plea deal with prosecutors.
Sweat, who was serving a life sentence without parole at Clinton
Correctional, faces a $5,000 fine and up to seven years in prison on
each of three felony charges.
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A conviction on the escape charges would have led to more stringent
conditions for Sweat at Five Points Correctional Facility, where he
was transferred soon after his capture, Wylie said.
A second prison employee also faces charges in the escape.
Correction officer Gene Palmer is accused of helping give contraband
to the inmates and destroying evidence.
An investigation by the state inspector general's office is still
underway.
Under the plea deal, Mitchell will not face any possible sexual
assault or rape charges stemming from allegations that she had
sexual relations with Matt or Sweat, Wylie said.
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Sandra Maler)
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