By Keshia Clukey
Times Union
ALBANY, NY — The 51-year-old woman arraigned Friday night on charges of helping two convicted murderers escape from the maximum security state prison in Dannemora has been moved toRensselaer County Jail from the Clinton County Jail, according to the Plattsburgh Press-Repubican.
Mitchell of Dickinson Center, who was arrested earlier Friday and arraigned late Friday night, is accused of providing hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch and a screwdriver drill bit to Richard W. Matt and David Sweat. Law enforcement authorities said the men used those items and other tools to cut their way out of Clinton Correctional Facility last weekend.
According to the Press-Republican, Clinton County Sheriff David Favro said it was best to move Mitchell to lower tensions.
“The (Clinton County) jail is just a few miles from a massive manhunt, and there a lot of staff with family and friends involved, and we thought it best to have the least amount of distractions,” Favro told the Press-Republican this morning.
He also told the Press-Republican that the Rensselaer County Jail has a complete female prisoner facility where she will be placed and under constant observation by a guard.
Mitchell was formally charged at 10:45 p.m. with promoting prison contraband 1st degree, a class D felony, and criminal facilitation, 4th degree, a class A misdemeanor.
Judge Mark Rogers set bail at $100,000 for the felony and $10,000 for the misdemeanor. A preliminary hearing was set for Monday morning.
Mitchell, in handcuffs, appeared in court with her lawyer, Keith Bruno. Her responses to the judge’s question were uttered in a meek voice.
Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie confirmed the arrest and charges at a news conference Friday evening at Saranac Junior-Senior High School, near where authorities have continue searching for the two men who were found missing from their cells at 5:30 a.m. on June 6.
Wylie said Mitchell faces 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison if convicted of the felony charge.
Mitchell was suspended Friday without pay from her $57,700-a-year job as an industrial training supervisor at the prison in Dannemora where she has worked since March 2008, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. She worked in a prison tailor shop with Matt, 48, and Sweat, who turns 35 on Sunday.
The Times Union reported Friday that Mitchell allegedly admitted to State Policeinvestigators that she assisted the inmates by providing access to a cell phone and smuggling power tools into the prison.
Wylie disputed part of that report Friday morning, saying Mitchell did not smuggle power tools into the prison, although the men used power tools and extension cords to cut their way out of their cells and into a 24-inch steam pipe that led them to freedom. Investigators are still trying to determine where they got the tools.
Law enforcement sources have said they believe the inmates, who may have used electric grinders or hand-saws to cut through the backs of their adjacent cells, would have needed multiple blades to do the job because of the amount of cutting that went on.
The Inspector General’s Office for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision previously investigated Mitchell’s relationship with one of the inmates after a co-worker filed a complaint, alleging she was too close to him, according to two people with knowledge of that case.
Both of the sources said the DOCCS internal investigation went nowhere and that the allegations against Mitchell did not result in any discipline. Wylie, though, on Friday said that Mitchell and the inmate, Matt, were temporarily separated as a result of the probe.
Prison employees and correction officers are prohibited from having relationships with inmates or doing them favors, such as contacting family members.
Law enforcement sources said Mitchell was also suspected of making arrangements to have a car waiting for the Sweat and Matt after they escaped, but she abandoned the plan after suffering an anxiety attack, and they were left to flee on foot.
Mitchell did not return to work after she called in sick last Saturday and claimed to be undergoing treatment for an anxiety attack.
Despite searching in the area for a second day, authorities did not appear any closer to apprehending the fugitives before nightfall.
On Friday morning, the owner of a home in Cadyville, was told that one of the killers was seen in her yard, a relative said. But State Police late Friday said they have no confirmed sightings of the men.
A woman who lives at the corner of Route 3 and Cringle Road said her sister-in-law, who lives on Cringle Road, was told by police to lock her doors early Friday morning. The woman said her last name is Cringle but did not want to give her first name.
She said police told her that one of the escapees had been seen scaling a rock wall on their family’s property. Law enforcement officials also asked if they could use a ladder to view the woods from the rooftop of her residence, Cringle said.
Cringle, whose family has lived in the area for generations, owns two acres a five-minute drive from the prison. The state also owns a farm on Cringle Road where inmates used to work, she said.
Cringle said the area had been checked on Monday, but law enforcement continued to have a strong presence there and on Trudeau Road and Buck’s Corner throughout the day and into Friday evening.
On Thursday night, police officers had lined Cringle Road as a helicopter searched with a spotlight and infrared equipment, which can help searchers see human shapes in the dark. Cringle’s sister, who lives on a road nearby, wasn’t allowed back into her home Thursday night, so she stayed with Cringle, she said.
“There’s a lot of law enforcement, so I’m not afraid, just more cautious now,” she said.
Police have been intensely searching the area a few miles east of the prison as they try to find Mattand Sweat.
For the second day in a row, local schools were closed around the village of Dannemora as hundreds of law enforcement and correction officers searched for the convicted killers, who escaped from the prison on June 6. They were discovered missing at 5:30 a.m. Saturday.
Officials say Saranac Central School District did not open Friday as a precaution. The manhunt has continued in a wooded area about three to five miles east of Dannemora with law enforcement personnel going door to door in homes and seasonal residences.
Local residents say police believe the escapees are inside the perimeter, which was cordoned off overnight Thursday by hundreds of armed officers.
Searchers said Thursday they located a spot where the escapees may have slept, and also found wrappers they may have discarded.
At Friday evening’s news conference, State Police Maj. Charles E. Guess, the Troop B commander, extended his thanks for an outpouring of support from the community, singling out Verizon for updating its cell towers that have been instrumental in the investigation; SUNY Plattsburgh for allowing use of its dormitories for troopers brought in for the search from across the state; the Saranac schools superintendent for allowing use of the district’s conference center; and to businesses and individuals who donated food and supplies.
He also had this message for the Sweat and Matt: “We are coming for you and we will not stop until you are caught.”