Three prison executives along with nine correction officers have been put on administrative leave at the upstate New York prison where two convicts escaped from the maximum security facility on June 6, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Steven Racette, the superintendent of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, was removed along with Stephen Brown, deputy superintendent in charge of security. The decision follows a massive manhunt for escaped murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, which ended after law enforcement officers killed Matt on Friday and apprehended Sweat on Sunday.
The fugitives made a plan to escape to Mexico, which failed after prison worker Joyce Mitchell, who was supposed to drive them to their destination, got cold feet. She was not waiting for the pair when they emerged from the manhole following their escape, said authorities, Fox News reported.
Mitchell was charged with aiding and abetting the two criminals break out of the secure prison by providing them with tools, including hacksaw blades and chisels. David and Sweat used these tools to cut through a steel wall and a number of steel steam pipes. The duo then smashed a hole through a 2-foot-thick brick wall, wriggled through pipes and emerged from a manhole outside the facility.
Suspended prison guard Gene Palmer was also charged last week for promoting prison contraband, tampering with evidence and official misconduct. Authorities said Palmer provided the escapees with tools, which he smuggled inside frozen hamburger meat. Palmer's attorney said his client had no knowledge that the meat contained tools. Sweat, who is apparently talking to authorities after his capture, said that Palmer was not involved in the escape, according to NBC News.
The FBI has also launched an investigation on drug-trafficking among other criminal activity at the Clinton Correctional facility, according to the New York Post.
