Prison worker who helped 2 killers escape gets up to 7 years behind bars

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — A former New York prison worker who helped two murderers escape from a maximum-security lockup has been sentenced to up to seven years behind bars.

Joyce Mitchell, 51, wiped away tears and apologized as she was sentenced Monday to 2 1/3 to seven years in prison under terms of a plea deal with prosecutors this summer.

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She pleaded guilty to charges related to providing tools to Richard Matt and David Sweat, who broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6.

The pair eluded more than 1,000 searchers in northern New York for weeks. Matt was killed by a border agent June 26. Sweat was wounded and captured by a trooper two days later.

Mitchell admitted becoming close with the pair, and she agreed to be their getaway driver before backing out.