Prison Escapee David Sweat Admits To Charges In Daring Breakout
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A convicted killer who was serving life behind bars when he staged a daring escape from a maximum-security prison pleaded guilty Friday to criminal charges for the breakout.
David Sweat, in his second court appearance since his June capture, no longer wore a sling, which he donned at the first appearance after being shot by authorities during his apprehension.
His head was shaved, and he made no statement. The 35-year-old Sweat, still donning a goatee and mustache, has been in special housing at Five Points prison, confined 23 hours a day.
Sweat, standing next to his lawyer and ringed by five guards, was unshackled at one wrist, sworn in and answered, "yes, sir'' and "no, sir'' when Clinton County Court Judge Patrick McGill questioned him. He said he wasn't under a doctor's care, wasn't coerced into pleading guilty and was taking medications that didn't interfere with his ability to understand what he was doing.
Sweat pleaded guilty to two felony counts of first-degree escape and a felony count of promoting prison contraband for possessing hacksaw blades used to cut his way out. Each carries a sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison.
District Attorney Andrew Wylie has said these new convictions could mean more difficult prison time for Sweat, who had been on an honor block along with fellow escapee Richard Matt with special privileges at Clinton Correctional Facility.
Wylie said $79,841 in restitution will also be sought from Sweat for repairs to the prison, jointly with former prison worker Joyce Mitchell.
Mitchell, who worked in the prison tailor shop with the inmates, pleaded guilty for the help she gave the inmates, including smuggling hacksaw blades to them in packages of frozen hamburger.
Wylie also cautioned that Sweat can't profit from selling his story about the breakout and three-week manhunt, invoking the state's Son of Sam law that prohibits it.
New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott said Friday that Sweat manipulated and extorted the prison's "profound lapses in security procedures.'' She's completing an investigation and detailed public accounting of the actions and systemic failures that enabled the breakout, she said.
Sweat and Matt, another convicted killer, escaped from Clinton on June 6.
The prisoners used power tools to saw through steel cell walls and several steel steam pipes, bashed a hole through a 2-foot-thick brick wall, squirmed through pipes and emerged from a manhole outside the prison.
Authorities said the escapees had planned to drive to Mexico but ended up walking toward Canada when Mitchell backed out of giving them a ride at the last minute.
Matt and Sweat apparently spent more than two weeks together roaming the thick northern New York woods before splitting up. Authorities believe they traveled mostly at night and managed to procure food, a gun and other supplies from hunting camps and seasonal cabins.
Matt was shot dead June 26 and Sweat was shot and captured two days later, ending the 23-day manhunt.
A prison guard who authorities say unknowingly abetted the escape plot has pleaded not guilty to a charge of promoting prison contraband. Authorities have said they don't believe there were any other people involved in the escape.
Sweat was already serving life without parole for the killing of a sheriff's deputy. Matt, 49, was doing 25 years to life for the kidnapping and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
