N.Y. prison break accomplice: 'I just got in over my head'

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York prison worker who aided the escape of two murderers in June, said she was going through depression and "got in over my head" when she conspired with the two men.

Joyce Mitchell, in her first public comments, told NBC's Matt Lauer that she loves her husband, but got swept up in the allure of helping inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt, who she was believed to be having an affair with inside the prison.

“I know it’s hard to believe. But I do love my husband. And I’ve always loved my husband. I just — I was going through a point in my life — a lot of people go through depression,” Mitchell said, according to excerpts released Friday by NBC. “A lot of people go through that. And I just got in over my head. And I couldn’t get out.”

Escapee Sweat hit with N.Y. prison-escape charges

Mitchell, 51, a worker in the Clinton Correctional Facility’s tailor shop, pleaded guilty to a pair of charges July 28 and faces up to seven years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 28. The guilty plea agreement included a prison sentence of up to seven years, a year in local jail to be served concurrently, a $5,000 fine and an order that she must cooperate with authorities. She also will lose her teaching license.

Mitchell was accused of providing the hacksaw blades as wells as chisels, a punch tool and a screwdriver to Matt. Authorities say she became close to the pair, agreed to be their getaway driver and even discussed killing her husband. But she backed out at the last moment, forcing Matt and Sweat to flee on foot after they emerged from a manhole near the maximum-security prison. The men fled into the dense Adirondack Park — leading to a massive three-week manhunt by authorities.

The chase ended in late June, when Matt was shot and killed by police and Sweat was later captured. Sweat has been charged with escaping from the prison.

State records showed that New York spent at least $1 million a day on the manhunt, which included more than 1,000 federal, state and local officers.

Taxpayers on the hook for millions in N.Y. manhunt

Mitchell told Lauer that she was ashamed of her relationship with Sweat and Matt. The interview will air on NBC’s TODAY show on Monday and Dateline next Friday.

“And I couldn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t tell my husband. Couldn’t tell my family. I couldn’t tell my coworkers. I couldn’t tell anybody. There’s nobody you can tell,” Mitchell said.

Lauer asked Mitchell whether Matt had “complete control of you.”

“Yes. He was — he was good at that,” she responded.

Contributing: Matthew Diebel, USA TODAY.

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