N.Y. escapee apologizes for prison break
ALBANY, N.Y. — The surviving killer who fled prison and led authorities on a massive three-week manhunt last year apologized Wednesday to the community that was in upheaval during his escape.
David Sweat, 35, was sentenced Wednesday in Clinton County Court in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where a judge tacked 3½ to 7 years on to his prison time and ordered him to pay more than $79,000 in restitution.
However, his sentence won't have much practical effect: Sweat already is serving life in prison without parole for the brutal 2002 murder of Kevin Tarsia, a Broome County sheriff's deputy.
Sporting a clean-shaven head, a salt-and-pepper goatee and wire-rim glasses in an appearance broadcast on cable TV, Sweat spoke briefly at the sentencing, apologizing for putting much of northern New York on edge during his three weeks on the run from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in the village of Dannemora.
"I would like to apologize to the community and the people who felt the fear and felt it necessary to leave their homes and their community because of the escape," Sweat said. "That was never my intent. I deeply apologize for that, your honor."
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Sweat and fellow killer Richard Matt escaped June 6 from the Clinton Correctional Facility. Police shot and killed Matt on June 26 and a state trooper captured Sweat near the Canadian border two days later.
They escaped using smuggled tools to cut through their prison cell and through the prison's system of pipes.
Sweat was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to two charges of escape and one charge of promoting prison contraband.
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Judge Patrick McGill's up-to-seven-year sentence levied on Sweat was the maximum allowed by law. The judge also ordered Sweat to pay $79,841, the state's cost to repair damage to his prison cell and the facility's catwalks and pipes.
Sweat won't likely be able to repay the costs. He earns $6 a week working inside the prison, and it would take 1,029 years to repay the fine if a portion of his wages were garnished, according to his lawyer, Joseph Mucia.
During the hearing, Mucia said Sweat continues to cooperate with the New York Inspector General's Office, which is investigating the breakout. The lawyer contended that Sweat acted as something of a voice of reason during the escape, claiming he talked Matt out of taking hostages at one point.
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"I would say that Mr. Sweat saved some lives," Mucia said.
McGill was unmoved. He acknowledged that sentencing Sweat was "anti-climactic," because he's already serving life in prison.
Sweat is serving his sentence in solitary confinement at the Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, N.Y. A prison worker who aided him, Joyce Mitchell, is serving a prison sentence of up to seven years.
Jon Campbell reports for Gannett's Albany, N.Y., Bureau. Follow him on Twitter: @JonCampbellGAN
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