David Sweat hit with prison-escape charges
The escapee's in-person appearance in the North County courtroom was something of a surprise.
ALBANY The surviving inmate who escaped from a maximum-security prison in northern New York was arraigned Thursday on criminal charges related to his escape, despite already serving a life sentence.
David Sweat, 35, was flanked by a half-dozen police officers in bullet-proof vests as he appeared in Clinton County Court to answer two counts of first-degree escape and one count of promoting prison contraband, all felonies.
Sporting a trim goatee and with his arm in a brace and a splint, Sweat showed no emotion as Judge Patrick McGill entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. He spoke only to say his court-appointed attorney was representing him.
Sweat and fellow inmate Richard Matt led police on a massive three-week manhunt after escaping from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in early June. Matt, 48, was shot and killed while Sweat was recovered by State Police on June 28.
The three charges each carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. It won’t have much impact on Sweat, who already is serving life in prison without parole for the brutal 2002 murder of a Broome County sheriff deputy.
Still, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie defended his decision to prosecute Sweat, who remains in solitary confinement 23 hours a day at the Five Points Correctional Facility in Seneca County.
“They committed a crime of escape in the first degree, and it’s my job as the prosecutor in this county to prosecute the people that commit crimes in this county,” Wylie told reporters. “And that’s the bottom line: He committed a crime in this county, and I am prosecuting him for that crime.”
Sweat was convicted of brutally murdering Broome County sheriff deputy Kevin Tarsia in a town of Kirkwood park in 2002, shooting him several times before running him over with a car and watching as an accomplice used the deputy’s own weapon to shoot him again.
He and Matt orchestrated an extraordinary escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6, cutting through their cells into prison catwalks, where they cut into steam pipes and escaped through a nearby manhole.
Sweat’s prosecution will add to the costs already caused by his escape, including police and corrections department overtime of about $1 million a day during the search.
The inmat’es in-person appearance in the North County courtroom was something of a surprise.
He had been expected to appear for his arraignment via video conference. But Wylie said police determined Thursday it wouldn’t be a security concern to transport him more than five hours from Five Points to Clinton County, which is not far from the Canadian border.
Sweat appeared in good health aside from his arm, which was wrapped and in a blue sling.
Wylie said the injury was related to Sweat’s capture, when he was shot twice by a State Police trooper as he began running back toward the Adirondack woods.
Joyce Mitchell, 51, a worker in the prison’s tailor shop, has already pleaded guilty to aiding the inmates’ escape, though she ultimately backed out of a plan to be their getaway driver. Sweat’s contraband charge is related to his possession of hacksaw blades, which were provided by Mitchell within frozen hamburger meat.
The hamburger meat was allegedly taken from a prison freezer to Sweat and Matt by corrections officer Gene Palmer, 57, who was charged in June with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct.
Palmer pleaded not guilty, and Wylie said he continues to have discussions with Palmer’s attorney.
Mitchell remains incarcerated in Clinton County jail, Wylie said. She will be sentenced Sept. 28.
Sweat is next due in court Sept. 29 for a pre-trial conference.
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