Joyce Mitchell sentenced to 7 years for Richard Matt and David Sweat escape plot

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Joyce Mitchell, 51, sentenced to seven years for assisting inmates' escape
She pleaded guilty to providing tools to Richard Matt and David Sweat
Matt and Sweat escaped Clinton Correctional Facility, New York, on June 6
Tearfully apologized in court saying 'if I could take it all back, I would'
Married prison worker also claims they 'forced' her to perform sex acts'
Her husband Lyle, who also works in the prison, said he is standing by her

By Associated Press

Published: 01:04 EST, 28 September 2015 | Updated: 13:34 EST, 28 September 2015

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A former New York prison worker wept as she was sentenced to seven years for her role in the audacious breakout.

Joyce Mitchell, 51, tearfully apologized to the community, her former colleagues and law enforcement on Monday morning, insisting: 'If I could take it all back, I would. I never intended for any of this to happen.'

It marks the climax of one of New York's worst prison breaks in history.

Mitchell pleaded guilty last month to providing hacksaw blades and other tools to Richard Matt and David Sweat, who broke out of the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6.

As she was led out of court, Mitchell appeared to mouth 'I love you' to her husband, who said he vows to stand by her despite learning she had sexual liaisons with both Matt and Sweat.

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Joyce Mitchell wept as she was sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in the June 6 break out

She apologized to the community and her former colleagues, saying 'if I could take it all back I would'

Mitchell was sentenced on Monday in Clinton County Court in Plattsburgh, New York, after pleading guilty

Mitchell implored Judge Kevin Ryan to be lenient and reduce the seven-year sentence in her plea bargain

She strained to wipe her tears as she stood shackled in chains after being sentenced on Monday

Speaking in court, said she only helped Matt and Sweat because she feared they would hurt her family

The pair eluded more than 1,000 searchers who combed the thick woods and bogs of northern New York for much of the next three weeks.

Matt was killed by a border agent June 26. Sweat was wounded and captured by a state trooper two days later.

Mitchell admitted to becoming close with the pair and agreed to be their getaway driver before backing out at the last moment.

Speaking in court, Mitchell implored Judge Kevin Ryan to be lenient and reduce the seven-year sentence agreed in her plea bargain.

'I'm hoping you will have mercy on me,' she said.

She said she only helped Matt and Sweat because she feared they would hurt her family.

'I just don't find that explanation credible,' Judge Ryan responded, adding that members of the public have written to him demanding he deal a tougher sentence.

Weeping uncontrollably throughout, and often having to pause to wipe her tears, Mitchell said: 'Please allow me to start by saying how sorry I am... How much remorse I have for everything that - oh I'm sorry... I'm sorry your honor,' she says through tears, '...that has happened, and my part in Matt and Sweat's escape. IfI could take it all back, I would.

'I can't begin to explain how sorry I am for all this, to the community, to my co-workers, to my family, to all the families of the officers that were involved in having to be taken away from their families in the search.'

The two escapees were forced to scrub plans to head to Mexico and instead fled on foot after emerging from a manhole near the prison.

'I enjoyed the attention, the feeling both of them gave me and the thought of a different life,' Mitchell told police.

Joyce Mitchell pleaded guilty to providing tools to murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat to escape jail

The 51-year-old prison worker was sentenced seven years for her role in the escape plot on June 6

She is pictured arriving at Clinton County Court in Plattsburgh, New York, to be sentenced

She later told NBC news she had no doubt Matt and Sweat would have killed her if she had met them with a vehicle and a shotgun, as planned.

Mitchell said the inmates' escape plan included going to the couple's home and killing her husband, Lyle, who also worked at the prison.

Mitchell suffered a panic attack the day of the escape and was taken to a hospital. She was arrested a week later and has been in jail since then.

'I would take it all back if I could, but I can't,' she told NBC. 'But I'm not the monster everybody thinks I am. I'm really not. I'm just somebody that got caught up in something she couldn't get out of.'

David Sweat (left) was detained after three weeks on the run. Richard Matt (right) was shot dead by police

Mitchell's husband Lyle Mitchell also works at the prison in upstate New York, towards the Canadian border

Also accused: A prison guard, Gene Palmer, who authorities have said unwittingly abetted the escape plot, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of promoting prison contraband

Officials said the convicts used tools to cut their way out of their adjacent cells and get into the catwalk between the cell block walls. They crawled through an underground steam pipe and reached a street near the prison walls through a manhole.

Sweat, who is being housed in a solitary cell at a central New York prison, faces charges in the escape.

A prison guard, Gene Palmer, who authorities have said unwittingly abetted the escape plot, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of promoting prison contraband.

Officials said he gave the two prisoners frozen hamburger meat Mitchell used to hide the hacksaw blades she smuggled to Sweat and Matt.