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Smitten Prison Worker Who Helped Upstate Inmates Escape: "I Just Got In Over My Head"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 11, 2015
Modified Sep 11, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 11, 2015
Modified Sep 11, 2015
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Former upstate prison worker Joyce Mitchell has sat down for an on-camera interview with NBC (that will air next week) all about her role in the dramatic prison break at Clinton Correctional Facility that happened at the start of the summer.
"I was going through a point in my life — a lot of people go through depression. A lot of people go through that. And I just got in over my head. And I couldn't get out. And I couldn't tell anybody. I couldn't tell my husband. Couldn't tell my family. I couldn't tell my co-workers. I couldn't tell anybody. There's nobody you can tell," the 51-year-old Mitchell told Matt Lauer. Watch a teaser of that interview below:
In the interview, Mitchell claims that convict Richard Matt had "complete control" over her: "Yes, he was good at that." Mitchell was supposed to act as a getaway driver for the escapees, but she backed out at the last minute and checked herself into a local hospital for a panic attack. She later claimed that she got cold feet on the plan because Matt said he would kill her husband Lyle.
Earlier this summer, Mitchell confessed to aiding Matt and David Sweat as part of her plea deal. She said she snuck tools, gloves, glasses with lights on them, etc. to Matt and Sweat, which enabled the pair to cut a hole out of their prison cell, and eventually cut through pipes to escape Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6th. Matt, convicted of killing a former boss, and Sweat, convicted of killing a NY state sheriff's deputy, were on the lam for weeks, until Matt was fatally shot during an attempted carjacking and Sweat was captured.
"I believe I helped inmate [Richard] Matt and inmate [David] Sweat escape because I was caught up in the fantasy," she said in her confession. "I enjoyed the attention, the feeling both of them gave me and the thought of a different life." She also confessed to having sexual contact with Matt on multiple occasions, and giving him naked photos of herself.
Mitchell faces up to seven years when she is sentenced.
Tagged
clinton correctional facility
david sweat
joyce mitchell
prison break
richard matt
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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