NY prison guard arrested over daring escape

A maximum-security prison guard who delivered frozen meat with tools hidden inside to two inmates before they escaped was arrested on Wednesday.

But correction officer Gene Palmer had no knowledge any contraband was inside the meat he gave to the two convicted killers, his lawyer said.

“He did pass the hamburger meat. He shouldn't have done it. He apologized for it,” said defense lawyer Andrew Brockway, who insisted Palmer didn't know the inmates were trying to escape.

Palmer appeared before a judge in Plattsburgh, New York, on Wednesday night to face charges of promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct. He was held on $25,000 bail pending arraignment Thursday. He will plead not guilty, his attorney said.

Palmer worked at the Clinton County Correctional Facility in upstate Dannemora, where inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt were reported missing on June 6.

Court documents alleged that Palmer had supplied Sweat and Matt with a screwdriver and pliers in exchange for paintings from the inmates. He also is alleged to have destroyed or tried to hide the paintings.

Mitchell supplied hacksaw blades and a screwdriver bit to the men, whose good behavior landed them on the prison's honor block.

Sweat, 35, was serving a life sentence without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy. Matt, 48, was doing 25 years to life in the kidnapping, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss.

Prison employee Joyce Mitchell also has been charged with helping them escape. Mitchell, a prison tailor shop instructor, has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody.

Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said Mitchell told investigators she smuggled hacksaw blades, a screwdriver and other tools into the prison by placing them in the frozen hamburger meat. He said she then placed the meat in a refrigerator in the tailor shop and Palmer took the meat to Sweat and Matt. The district attorney said the guard didn't know the tools were inside the meat.

Brockway said Palmer continues to cooperate with investigators who are trying to track down the fugitives. Palmer had been placed on leave on Tuesday.

Police said they remain almost 100 percent certain that Sweat and Matt spent time recently at a hunting camp about 20 miles west of the correctional facility. A hunter said he saw a figure bolting from the cabin on Saturday morning. But after days of intense searching with dogs and helicopters, police still have had  no substantiated sightings of Sweat and Matt.

State police Maj. Charles Guess said more than 1,000 officers involved would keep up the search until the killers are captured.

“We don't want them to have a restful, peaceful night putting their head on any pillow,” he said.

The Associated Press