Joyce Mitchell Parole Transcript

1 NYS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
2 AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION
3 BOARD OF PAROLE
4 *********************************************************
5 Parole Board Interview
6 In the Matter
7 -of-
8 JOYCE E. MITCHELL
9 DIN # 15-G-0834
NYSID #
10
*********************************************************
11
TYPE OF INTERVIEW: Or Earlier/Merit Time
12
13 HELD AT: Bedford Hills C.F.

Video-conferenced to NYS DOCCS
14 314 West 40th Street
New York, New York
15
DATE: February 7, 2017
16 DECISION DATE: February 7, 2017
17
BEFORE: COMMISSIONER STANFORD
18 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA
COMMISSIONER J. SMITH
19
20 ALSO PRESENT: R. MORALES, SORC

C. CRESPO, APA
21 S. FISCHLER, VR I
22 AT FACILITY: J. GREENFIELD, ORC

N. DIXON, ORC
23
24
25 VERBATIM REPORTER: Christina M. Wolcott

JOYCE E. MITCHELL - DIN #15-G-0834 NYSID # 2
1 BY COMMISSIONER STANFORD:
2 Q. Good morning.
3 A. Good morning.
4 Q. Are you Joyce Mitchell?
5 A. How are you today? Yes, ma'am.
6 Q. I'm fine; thanks, Ms. Mitchell. I'm Commissioner
7 Stanford and I'm here today with Commissioner Smith on
8 my right, your left, and Commissioner Coppola.
9 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Good morning.
10 THE INMATE: Good morning.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Hello.
12 THE INMATE: How are you?
13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Good; thanks
14 for asking.
15 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Fine; thank
16 you.
17 Q. Ms. Mitchell, I want to begin by saying that we've
18 received your parole report. It's entitled, "A parole
19 Report on Behalf of Joyce Mitchell" and -- presented to
20 us and prepared by , , an
21 MSW, working out of Syracuse, dated January 9th, 2017.
22 This was prepared on your behalf, ma'am?
23 A. Yes, it was, ma'am.
24 Q. Thank you. We do have that. I need to make a
25 correction too, at the outset, to your Parole Board

1 Report. I believe the report you have or you would have
2 received a copy of in the area that said "Official
3 Statements," judge, DA, defense attorney, it's checked
4 "no" for all three. Since this report was prepared,
5 however, letters did come in from the Clinton County
6 District Attorney's Office and also a letter came in
7 from your attorney at the time of your plea, I believe,
8 from the Law Offices of Stephen A. Johnston; that was
9 your attorney?
10 A. Yes, ma'am.
11 Q. He wrote a letter on your behalf January 17th of
12 2017. So after the Parole Board Report was prepared,
13 letters came in, so I'm going to correct my copy of the
14 Parole Board Report and I'm giving you notice that those
15 corrections are being made to the record and that we
16 have things that they didn't have -- the facility did
17 not have when this report was created, okay?
18 A. Thank you, ma'am.
19 Q. And the law requires that when we have them,
20 responses from the judge, D.A. or your attorney, that we
21 do consider them, all right?
22 A. Thank you.
23 Q. You're welcome. So I'm just noting with my initials
24 and today's date "yes" instead of "no" by the D.A. and
25 defense attorney after "official statements". All

1 right. I'm going to read the detailed present offense
2 and then I'm going to go into some other things in our
3 records. "Under Indictment Number 102S" -- and in this
4 case, I think it's a superior -- supreme court
5 information, actually -- "102S15991: The subject
6 knowingly and unlawfully introduced hacksaw blades,
7 chisels, a punch and a screwdriver bit into Clinton
8 Correctional Facility. The subject intentionally and
9 unlawfully introduced contraband tools and hardware to
10 Inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt. The subject did
11 engage in conduct which provided Inmates Sweat and Matt
12 the means to commit the felony of Escape 1st Degree."
13 And for your participation in these acts, you pled
14 guilty to Promoting Prison Contraband 1st Degree, is
15 that right?
16 A. Yes, ma'am.
17 Q. Thank you. And you were sentenced in Clinton County
18 by the Honorable Kevin K. Ryan. As I said, you were
19 represented by Mr. Johnston at that time and Judge Ryan
20 gave you a sentence, I guess, that was negotiated from
21 the looks of things in your sentencing minutes, of two
22 and a third to seven years, does that all sound correct?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Okay. And you're seeing us today for merit
25 consideration for some of the work that you have been

1 doing in the facility and, namely, completion of a
2 , is that correct?
3 A. Yes, ma'am.
4 Q. You participated in ?
5 A. Yes, ma'am.
6 Q. And completed that successfully?
7 A. Yes, ma'am.
8 Q. So we have that merit time issue determination notice
9 in your file and we also have a Certificate of Earned
10 Eligibility determination notice in your file, and that
11 is given to you based on your record of program
12 attendance, participation and progress and that gives
13 you a rebuttable presumption in favor of your
14 suitability for release. So let me turn my attention
15 for the moment to your parole report. It begins with a
16 proposed release proposal on your behalf with an
17 introduction and case summary, relevant background
18 information. Mr. presents that he believes you
19 satisfied the statutory requirements for release and he
20 gives us additional considerations as well. He
21 highlights your institutional accomplishments. In
22 addition to , in your opinion, what are your most
23 significant institutional accomplishments?
24 A. I've -- I feel that I have -- I'm sorry. I'm
25 nervous. I feel that I have grown in knowing, you know,

1 that I can be a stronger person and not be taken over by
2 fear. Fear is just the cowardly way out and I'm not a
3 coward, so I have learned that, you know, just rely on
4 help of others, don't try to do things on your own. If
5 you feel that you need help, get that help.
6 Q. Okay. In terms of your institutional achievements,
7 besides the program, what other activities have you
8 been involved in at Bedford?
9 A. I have done several of the ACE programs, like the
10 HIV, different ones. I've done different -- like,
11 there's been four-week ones, six-week ones. I'm
12 currently working as a clerk in the library. I just
13 started college, I've done the writer's journal,
14 different volunteer programs that they have had here in
15 the facility. I did like a parenting one, but it was
16 more towards my granddaughter because my children are
17 all grown, but I'm participating in different, you know
18 -- the volunteer programs, if I -- you know, it allows
19 me to be able to do it with my schedule and my work and
20 college, I'm doing it.
21 Q. And what type of work are you doing within the
22 facility?
23 A. I was a porter at one time, but I got -- I'm allergic
24 to the germicide, so I wasn't able to do that anymore so
25 I'm working currently as a clerk in the library.

1 Q. Okay. Thank you. And we do see certificates of
2 completion from the different ACE programs. These are
3 programs presented by the ACE, A-C-E, program and the
4 Women's Prison Association, and I see you have completed
5 a health awareness workshop?
6 A. Yes, ma'am, and I've also done the domestic violence
7 -- or family violence one for both spousal and child.
8 Q. Was that something that you had a need for due to
9 personal experience?
10 A. Yes. Yes. I was -- my first husband was very
11 abusive and my mother's always considered me -- well, I
12 wasn't as good as my brother and my sister, I --
13 whatever they did was right, whatever I did was wrong.
14 Q. So you feel to a certain extent you were the victim
15 of some form of emotional abuse?
16 A. Yes, so I took both parts of the family violence.
17 Q. We have inmate progress report -- actually, two in
18 your record, your parole report, that was prepared on
19 your behalf, where you had excellent ratings in the
20 family violence program. In fact, it looks like you
21 have two different progress reports, both for domestic
22 -- well, one for family violence program and one for the
23 domestic violence program and the other -- the ratings
24 that are present on the domestic violence are also
25 excellent, and you're considered an active -- you were

1 considered to be an active member of the group and you
2 openly discussed your own issues and gave positive
3 feedback and you were also considered very active in the
4 family violence group. We have a letter of support in
5 your records from your husband of 15 plus years. He
6 says in one part, quote, "I know my wife did wrong but,
7 much more importantly, she knows she did wrong!" "She
8 has taken full responsibility from the start by
9 cooperating over 50 hours in meetings with the IG's
10 office, State Police and prosecutors. She has expressed
11 remorse throughout her court case and while in prison
12 serving a very stiff prison term." And he ends by
13 saying, "You're a true first offender who spent her life
14 of over 50 years helping others." And, "In closing,
15 please, I'm begging you to allow her home to me, where
16 she belongs, with her loving family and friends by
17 granting her parole release at her earliest eligibility.
18 Respectfully, ." It's a lovely
19 one-and-a-half-page letter your husband wrote on your
20 behalf. You have other nice letters of support written
21 on your behalf as well. Included in your support
22 network are Ms. ; your son -- is
23 this , ?
24 A. Yes, ma'am.
25 Q. . He says he's a senior airman in the Vermont

1 Air National Guard.
2 A. Yes, ma'am, he is.
3 Q. He describes you as a very loving and caring woman.
4 Quote, "She is one of the best people I know. She would
5 give anyone the shirt off her back." That's signed,
6 " ". ,
9 , statement of support, attesting to your good
10 character. She's your first cousin?
11 A. Yes, ma'am.
12 Q. And many, many others, ma'am, by family and friends.
13 These letters take up a full section of your report on
14 your behalf; well over ten letters written by different
15 people on your behalf that we'll take into account,
16 okay?
17 A. Yes, ma'am.
18 Q. I'm going to take more time, obviously, to review
19 your submission. Is there a personal statement in here
20 from you or no?
21 A. I'm not sure if there's one in there or not.
22 Q. Did you write one for Mr. ?
23 A. I did, but I also have a copy here because I knew
24 that I'd forget half of what I wanted to say because I'm
25 so nervous.
1 Q. Okay. Did you give a copy of your statement to
2 Bedford staff to include in your file?
3 A. They had one. They had me write one up.
4 Q. I do see in your Parole Board Report in the section
5 "Offender's Statement" a note. It begins with an
6 apology for the trouble, and it ends, once again, please
7 accept my apology for what I have done. I think that's
8 what that's supposed to say. Is that the statement?
9 Does it sound like the statement you prepared?
10 A. Yes. That's part of it, yes.
11 Q. Well, there must be a piece of it that they have
12 included in the report. So your plan, upon release, is
13 to reside at home with your husband?
14 A. Yes, ma'am.
15 Q. And information on the Parole Board Report also
16 suggests that you've been offered a waitressing
17 position, is this right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Have you ever done that kind of work before?
20 A. Yes, ma'am, I have. When I was doing my college,
21 years ago, in between the semesters, I worked as a
22 waitress and a cook at a restaurant of a friend.
23 Q. Now, I know you told us earlier that you hope to
24 return to school and finish a degree. Were you able to
25 achieve a degree, an associate's or a bachelor's, in

1 your earlier time in college?
2 A. Yes. Yes, ma'am. I have an associate's in business
3 office technology.
4 Q. I think I may even have a copy of that in your
5 report, North Country Community College.
6 A. Yes, ma'am.
7 Q. Associate in Applied Science. Okay.
8 A. Yes, ma'am.
9 Q. Thank you. What do you want to go back to school
10 for?
11 A. I'd really like to have gone back for the criminal
12 justice but, right now, I -- I'm doing what I can here,
13 but when I go home, I'd like to continue in and
14 hopefully get something to the criminal possess...
15 profession.
16 Q. Now, we have your risk assessment. It suggests that
17 you're a low risk of felony violence, arrest and
18 absconding; low criminal involvement; unlikely to have
19 criminogenic needs that statistically have been shown
20 and lead individuals back into criminal behavior and
21 thinking. We also have your case plan and you had a
22 goal related to addressing . Had
23 you had issues with substances in the past, including
24 alcohol?
25 A. When I was with my first husband, I did. My first

1 husband was very abusive. He was a druggie and an
2 alcoholic, both, and it got to a point where the only
3 time I could really deal with him was if I was -- if I
4 had been drinking. Just like I can just ignore him, but
5 I don't need that anymore, I know I don't. I know I'm
6 okay.
7 Q. So what years were you married in and using the
8 alcohol as you described?
9 A. Well, I wasn't actually married to him yet at the
10 time, and that would have been back in 1983-84.
11 Q. So these are the years before marriage?
12 A. Yes. And then I was married to him in '91 and we
13 were divorced -- well, my son as born in '93 and we
14 separated after that because I couldn't -- I couldn't
15 take it anymore with him. I mean he had -- he had
16 actually -- one day, if I hadn't turned, he would have
17 hit my son instead of me, so then and there I said I got
18 to get out of this.
19 Q. So altogether you were involved between approximately
20 1984 and 1993 with your son's father?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And during those years, you used alcohol in the
23 manner you described?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Any other drugs?

1 A. I tried marijuana, but it was nothing that -- I
2 didn't stay with the marijuana; alcohol seemed to be my
3 -- my key.
4 Q. Okay. When was the last time you drank alcohol to
5 the point of intoxication, do you remember the year?
6 A. It would have been well before I got with my second
7 husband and we were together -- well, we were married in
8 2001. I -- once I got with my second husband, the only
9 time we drank was socially. I never really got to the
10 point of intoxication.
11 Q. Okay. So that was your number one goal in your case
12 plan, to address .
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And then the second was a prosocial development goal
15 to set healthy boundaries with others. Did you help in
16 the identification of these goals? In other words, is
17 this a goal that you had for yourself or was a goal that
18 staff at the facility helped you to arrive at?
19 A. No, it's a goal that I want for myself.
20 Q. And why did you --
21 A. I'm sorry. I need to learn to quit being so -- I
22 don't want to say nice -- I need to know that I don't
23 have to be the one to try and help someone all the time.
24 I need to be able to say "no" and that means "no". Not
25 say "no" and then five minutes later give in, like I've
1 always done, because it's always been you make somebody
2 happier if you just do what they want. I don't have to
3 do that. If, you know, somebody asked for something and
4 I can't do it, I can't do it. There's -- when I say no,
5 it's going to be no.
6 Q. Another goal that you set for yourself was to improve
7 your self esteem and then develop positive activities
8 and then develop self confidence.
9 A. Yes, ma'am.
10 Q. Anything more you want to say about those three goals
11 in your case plan?
12 A. I've become a much better person as far as, you know,
13 I'm stronger and I know that I am a good person. I know
14 that, you know, if I'm just allowed to show people, I
15 can be the person that I once was, but to the point
16 where I don't have to give in to be able to be loved. I
17 know that, you know, people are not always gonna to be
18 happy with my decisions, and that's the way it's got to
19 be. I can't be that person that gives in to make
20 someone happy all the time. I have to make sure that
21 what I'm doing is right.
22 Q. Have you been able to identify, for your own sake,
23 how this -- the behavior that you're trying to overcome
24 with these goals, how that may have contributed to you
25 committing the crime you committed?

1 A. I do know that, when thinking everything over, a lot
2 of it was -- it was -- I let fear overtake my common
3 sense, and I know that, like I said, fear is just the
4 coward's way out. I don't have to be a coward. I can
5 be the strong person that I actually truly am, which
6 will keep me from ever making a horrific mistake, like I
7 did, and it definitely was a horrific mistake.
8 Q. What, in your mind, was the horrific mistake?
9 A. In my mind was that I let those two inmates overtake
10 what should have been me knowing right from wrong. My
11 fear -- like I said, I let fear -- because it was -- and
12 this is probably going to sound weird, but it's like
13 when I was around them, it was like I was back with my
14 ex-husband and it was -- if you didn't do what he
15 wanted, you would feel either the emotional, the
16 physical or mental abuse, and it's like when I was
17 around them, I was -- fear just come back in, but then
18 when I wasn't with them and I was back with my husband,
19 it was like -- it was like I was two different people in
20 one body, but I know that I'm only one person.
21 Q. All right. Up until the time that you provided this
22 contraband, how long had you been employed within the
23 department and working at a correctional facility,
24 approximately?
25 A. Approximately seven years.

1 Q. What was it specifically that you were afraid of?
2 A. That they would kill my husband, because they had
3 threatened to kill my husband and he worked there also,
4 and I know that they could have got to him any time.
5 Q. Did you ever share your concerns for his safety with
6 your husband at the time when you first felt the fear?
7 A. No, because I felt if I did, that he would go
8 confront them, you know, go say something to them and
9 that they would kill him right there in front of my
10 eyes.
11 Q. Did --
12 A. No one -- I'm sorry, ma'am.
13 Q. Finish your thought.
14 A. Pardon?
15 Q. Go ahead.
16 A. No one understands the power that Inmate Matt had.
17 For an inmate he had a lot of power when it came to the
18 officers. He could say, you know, Smith made me mad,
19 open the gate and take a walk for 10, 15 minutes. That
20 officer could do it, come back, that inmate could be
21 beat up and they would just shut the gate and laugh
22 about it, and I didn't know who to go to because he had
23 done paintings for several officers and higher ups. I
24 didn't know who to tell. I -- I know that I did wrong
25 and I accept responsibility for everything I have done.

1 I mentally beat myself up everyday for my choices I have
2 made. I just -- I'm hoping that yous will just allow
3 me --
4 Q. Go ahead, finish your thought. Allow you?
5 A. Allow me to prove to you that I can be a respectable
6 and responsible person in the community again. I just
7 want to go home to my family to be able to take care of
8 them.
9 Q. Ms. Mitchell, Commissioner Coppola would like to ask
10 a question at this point.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: During this
12 time you said that you didn't have -- you said that
13 -- well, a couple of things, but one of them is you
14 didn't know who to go to, you didn't know who to
15 tell and you were afraid that they were going to
16 kill your husband, did you ever tell your husband?
17 THE INMATE: No. I just -- I tried to
18 keep him out of harm's way. When he would --
19 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Hang on one
20 second. You never thought that by telling him he
21 would maybe keep his distance from either one of
22 them or even, you know, seek a transfer or do
23 something instead of not tell him and he's walking
24 around without knowing, similar to, you know,
25 somebody out there saying, you know, that DOCCS

1 knows that there's been a threat on a commissioner's
2 life and they don't even tell us, they figure, well,
3 let's just not tell them just in case. Well, I
4 would like to know someone is following me. I don't
5 understand why you felt it was protecting him more
6 by not telling him.
7 THE INMATE: Because, like I said, I
8 knew if I told him, he would go confront them. You
9 know, I don't know what he'd say to them, but I know
10 he would confront them and they would end up killing
11 him right in front of me.
12 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You figured the
13 better course of action was just to continue on and
14 not say anything and just let things unfold the way
15 that they did?
16 THE INMATE: I tried to just keep my
17 eye on it and keep him protected. I know, I went
18 about everything the wrong way, everything.
19 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Are you saying
20 you truly believe that -- and I know that some
21 inmates have a lot of liberties, but I just find it
22 hard to believe that he controlled the prison, he
23 could basically push a button and say to somebody,
24 I've got to take care of this guy or you need to go
25 take a walk for a while --

1 THE INMATE: He could.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: -- he could do
3 whatever he wanted?
4 THE INMATE: He could. He had been
5 through that whole system. The officers had taken
6 him to different parts of the building. I do know
7 that there was one time that I had an inmate that
8 was in my shop, he got keep lock, Inmate Matt wanted
9 to take food over to him, the officer took him over
10 to the unit or block, whatever you call it, that
11 that inmate was on. He was brought into the shop on
12 weekends.
13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So how high up
14 did his influence go, past lieutenants, captains,
15 all the way up to the deputy superintendents,
16 superintendents --
17 THE INMATE: I do know that there was
18 one superintendent he had done paintings for.
19 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So you're
20 pretty much -- you're saying that you -- you
21 observed -- personally observed him basically having
22 the run over the prison and the influence over all
23 those corrections officers, that he could do
24 whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted?
25 THE INMATE: He could. This was a man

1 that he had -- he had -- there was an officer that
2 had brought something into him for doing a painting
3 for him, and when the lieutenant wanted to know the
4 information, Inmate Matt wouldn't give it to him;
5 that lieutenant smashed everything he owned and
6 within two days he had everything back, brand new.
7 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So --
8 THE INMATE: Everything back, brand
9 new, and it wasn't through buying stuff, it was -- I
10 mean you got a lot of power when you can do that.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Now, there were
12 -- as far as I know, there's at least one officer
13 that was charged, and I'm not sure what his final
14 outcome was, that was widely publicized, so you're
15 saying that other officers had done these things?
16 THE INMATE: Yes.
17 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So when all
18 this unfolded and you were questioned -- and I'm
19 sure that they questioned you for who knows how
20 long -- and you were asked of others that you knew
21 were involved in helping them or least giving them
22 liberties that aided in their abilities to do what
23 they did, did you -- did you implicate all the other
24 officers that you saw doing these things for him?
25 THE INMATE: No. I took all the

1 blame. I took all the responsibility for this.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Hang on. I
3 think you're misunderstanding my question. There's
4 a security issue here, and you're saying that under
5 all the questioning, they never asked you about
6 other officers who did things or you saw do things
7 that could have aided both of these individuals in
8 their escape or their behavior in the prison?
9 THE INMATE: They asked me if I knew
10 for sure and I told them I didn't know for sure.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: But how could
12 you say that? You just told us that you saw, you
13 personally --
14 THE INMATE: I didn't --
15 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Hang on. Let
16 me finish. You said that you personally witnessed
17 officers giving them or Matt -- we'll say, Matt --
18 extensive liberties, even if he misbehaved, whatever
19 it may had been, allowing him to go bring food to
20 somebody who was in keep lock, you just said to us
21 that you personally witnessed this, and that's why
22 you were so in fear of what they might do or follow
23 through with their threats, but now you also are
24 saying that you told the officers, under
25 questioning, that you did not know for sure of other

1 officers who may have helped them or done things
2 that they shouldn't have done with regard to say --
3 we'll say Matt, because that's who you said, so I'm
4 not sure -- what are you saying? Are you not
5 telling the truth about not -- about that you
6 witnessed this personally or are you saying that you
7 lied to the officers when you said you didn't know
8 of anybody else?
9 THE INMATE: I didn't say that I
10 personally witnessed it.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You just did.
12 I asked you if --
13 THE INMATE: I didn't -- then I
14 misunderstood you.
15 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Listen, I'm not
16 interrogating you, but I don't want to just keep
17 losing track of what happened. We can read the
18 transcript back. I asked you -- because this goes
19 to the heart of you saying why you felt so fearful
20 and that it was a true danger to you, okay? Because
21 there is some validity to that. I would agree that
22 if somebody felt that way, there can be some
23 validity to that, but you said the reason you felt
24 that way, the reason you felt you couldn't go to
25 anybody else, because they had control -- Matt had

1 control of everybody, according to you, and I said,
2 Did you personally witness him having this influence
3 within the prison and you said "yes". You said
4 "yes".
5 THE INMATE: Then I misunderstand you.
6 I misunderstand you, then, because I didn't
7 physically see it.
8 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So if you
9 didn't physically see it, how would you one hundred
10 percent know that you had no avenue to pursue with
11 regard to threats from him or the fears that you had
12 that they would hurt your husband? If you didn't
13 witness what you claim he had, all this influence,
14 how did you know for sure that you couldn't go
15 anywhere?
16 THE INMATE: Because Inmate Matt told
17 me that if any officers or anyone knew and they were
18 taken out of their shops or even taken out of the
19 facility, my husband was dead sooner than what I
20 would know. I just want to go home.
21 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Well, I'm
22 pretty sure you do, but there's a lot to consider.
23 I'm trying to -- I'm trying to decipher of how much
24 you knew or believed that that threat was real and,
25 you know, there was a --

1 THE INMATE: Trust me, it was Inmate
2 Matt.
3 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So let me ask
4 you this: When you started with DOCCS -- and I'm
5 not quite clear on it, I don't have the file in
6 front of me, so I don't know your complete
7 background as far as education -- what
8 qualifications did you have when you started this
9 job, the job at the facility?
10 THE INMATE: I had worked at
11 Tru-Stitch Slipper Factory.
12 COMMISSIONER STANFORD: Tru-Stitch?
13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: What is it,
14 Tru-Stitch?
15 THE INMATE: Tru-Stitch, yes. I mean
16 it was called Tru-Stitch; actually, it's Wolverine
17 World Wide. I was a stitcher there, we made
18 slippers. I sewed for 15 years there; that was one
19 of the qualifications, you had to be able to sew.
20 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. So --
21 and I'm not sure, what was your exact title?
22 THE INMATE: For the -- I was an
23 industrial training supervisor.
24 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: For the
25 Department of Corrections?
1 THE INMATE: Yes.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. Did you
3 have a college degree or did you have an
4 associate's?
5 THE INMATE: I had an associate's,
6 yes, sir.
7 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Did you have to
8 have an associate's for that position?
9 THE INMATE: No. You just -- your
10 main thing was you had to have sewing experience.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay.
12 THE INMATE: And supervision -- and
13 the supervisor experience, which I had from
14 Tru-Stitch.
15 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So they knew, I
16 mean, on a daily basis, you would have -- you would
17 have contact with inmates?
18 THE INMATE: Yes.
19 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. When you
20 started the position, did you get any training of
21 how to act around inmates or to, you know, what --
22 what course of actions you had to take if you saw an
23 inmate doing something they weren't supposed to, did
24 the department train you in anyway in how to
25 associate with these inmates?

1 THE INMATE: They did show us movies
2 on inmates, games inmates would play. They did
3 train us but, quite honestly, I don't feel that it
4 was enough training.
6 saying that even though the department -- did the
7 department -- you said the videos or the training
8 they gave you was -- well, talked about games that
9 inmates would play, and we all I think know, once we
10 get some experience, that they're -- they're
11 probably pretty good at it -- so you're saying even
12 with that training to not really fall into their
13 game or to understand that they will play these
14 games to get in your favor, that simply because he
15 told you he had that much control, that was good
16 enough? You never thought about the training, that
17 maybe he's playing a game on me, he's running a game
18 here?
19 THE INMATE: I never saw it. I
20 screwed up. I screwed up big time, and I -- you
21 know, no one is ever going to forget this. I'm
22 never going to forget this, but I know I made a
23 horrific, horrific choice in what I did and I can
24 never take that back.
25 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: How long did

1 this go on for?
2 THE INMATE: For what?
3 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: How long did it
4 go on for -- we'll say your relationship with either
5 him or Sweat, as far as any non-inmate/staff member
6 relationship, anything that went beyond that?
7 THE INMATE: Other than me bringing in
8 the stuff, that was it. I just -- I treated every
9 inmate like a human being.
10 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So it only
11 happened once? It only happened when you brought
12 the stuff in? I mean I'm saying even if you
13 trickled the stuff in, how long a period of time did
14 this go on for?
15 THE INMATE: Three, four months.
16 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. All
17 right. That's it for now. I might have some other
18 questions later, but that's it. Thank you.
19 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Just a couple
20 followup questions as well and then I'll probably
21 have more at the end. You talked about your husband
22 and the threat, that you perceived, that was made by
23 Matt or by Sweat or by both of them?
24 THE INMATE: It was made by Matt.
25 Trust me, Mr. Matt would have followed through with

1 it.
2 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: When did your
3 husband last work at DOCCS?
4 THE INMATE: When did he last work at
5 DOCCS?
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Yes.
7 THE INMATE: It would have been about
8 the time that I got arrested. He hasn't worked
9 since.
10 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Okay. Now,
11 were other inmates a problem for you?
12 THE INMATE: No.
13 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Okay. You
14 said there wasn't enough training?
15 THE INMATE: I really -- I really
16 truly don't believe -- I'm not saying it because
17 it's me, but anyone, even the civilians here, I
18 don't feel that they get enough training because you
19 tend to get -- what do I want to say -- lax, because
20 you're doing the same routine everyday and you're
21 around the same inmates, so you tend to -- do I want
22 to -- I'm trying to think what I want to say. I'm
23 sorry. Like I said, you get lax, you get into a
24 routine and you kind of -- I don't know --
25 everything just comes all together. It's like you

1 actually do kind of forget where you are, even
2 though you know where you are. Am I making sense?
3 Probably not.
4 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: I hear what
5 you're saying. I don't believe it, and the reason I
6 don't is from a very young age, we are taught right
7 from wrong.
8 THE INMATE: I know.
9 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: You know,
10 you're in a custodial situation, you've been in the
11 system for a number years, you've been a supervisor
12 at your past job, you know about problem employees.
13 If you looked at those inmates as your employees,
14 would you have tolerated that from an employee at
15 the slipper factory?
16 THE INMATE: No.
17 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Were you a
18 member of the union --
19 THE INMATE: I told you screwed up.
20 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Let me finish.
21 Were you a member of the union?
22 THE INMATE: Yes.
23 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Okay. You
24 didn't feel you had any recourse to go to the union?
25 THE INMATE: I didn't what?

1 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: You didn't
2 feel you had any recourse to go talk to your steward
3 and say, Listen, there's something going on here?
4 THE INMATE: I didn't even think about
5 them.
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: So when did
7 you begin the relationship with these men?
8 THE INMATE: There was never anything
9 other than him and I, employer/inmate, and when he
10 started to threaten, he was -- I don't know how to
11 explain it. I just don't know. He was very, very
12 controlling. He got to the point that the inmates
13 would say, I can't come and ask you anything and I'd
14 say, Why not? And they'd say Matt said we had to go
15 through him. It was like he wanted to control
16 everything around him.
17 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Why did you
18 let that go on? Why -- on day one, when he came to
19 you, why didn't you shut him down right then? What
20 was he giving you that your family couldn't give
21 you?
22 THE INMATE: He wasn't giving me
23 anything. I screwed up.
24 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: We know that.
25 We know that.
1 THE INMATE: I was --
2 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Are you
3 telling this Panel that Inmate Matt was the first
4 inmate that ever crossed the line in all your years
5 of employment there, are you telling us that?
6 THE INMATE: Yes. Because any time
7 any -- I was afraid of him. I was deathly afraid of
8 him, because if I ever had any issues where I
9 thought somebody was getting over the line before, I
10 said something.
11 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Well, that was
12 my question. I just asked you that.
13 THE INMATE: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
14 I'm just so nervous and I want to go home.
15 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Do you
16 understand -- and I'm sure Commissioner Stanford is
17 going to resume the interview here in a minute --
18 the consequences? You said you made a horrific
19 mistake; no, ma'am, you made a choice. You made a
20 choice to allow this behavior to be perpetuated to
21 start bringing contraband into the prison, which
22 ultimately led to these two men escaping, which
23 placed countless number of citizens and first
24 responders in fear. Not to say the amount of money
25 it cost New York State, you created a wave of fear,

1 and you can be very thankful that no first
2 responders were injured or killed during this.
3 THE INMATE: I know that. I know. I
4 know, ma'am. Trust me, I know. There isn't a day
5 that I haven't thought about that.
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: I'll let you
7 resume.
9 Q. Okay. Turning back to the sentencing minutes for a
10 moment. The judge said some things that you may
11 probably recall and there was, I guess, some discussion
12 about more potential charges before he summed it up, but
13 he noted, quote, "You did terrible things. New York
14 State has incurred almost 23 million in overtime costs
15 alone related to the manhunt." This is what the judge
16 said at your sentencing. "The economic and non-
17 economic costs suffered by so many people is
18 incalculable." And, as Commissioner Smith noted, the
19 judge also said, quote, "A large portion of the local
20 population was terrorized." So, in effect, because you
21 were afraid, you passed that fear on to others by
22 bringing in the materials that you knew or I believe you
23 knew, you can tell me if you didn't, they were going to
24 use to effect their escape. And is it true that they
25 had also hoped that you would further facilitate their

1 escape by meeting them outside the prison, is that
2 accurate as well?
3 A. Yes, it is, ma'am.
4 Q. But that you did not know, correct?
5 A. No, I did not.
6 Q. Did you know the day that they were going to effect
7 their escape? Did you know approximately when they were
8 going to -- you must have if you were supposed to be
9 meeting them, right?
10 A. I didn't -- I didn't know until Matt had stood in the
11 back of the room and he made a motion with his arm up
12 that that was the night it was supposed to be.
13 Q. That was a code that he had worked out with you?
14 When I do this, make this motion, you'll know that
15 that's the night?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. I guess at some point in the sentencing
18 minutes, he was actually repeating things that you had
19 said in his presence or on the record before him, and
20 you said, I guess, because he begins by saying,
21 "Similarly, at another point in your presentence
22 interview with the department of probation, you said,
23 quote, "I was trying to save my husband," end quote.
24 "Ms. Mitchell, I just don't find that information
25 credible." Do you remember the judge saying that to

1 you?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And then he says, "While you express remorse for the
4 harm you caused the community, you also stated that you
5 believe the negotiated sentence is too harsh and, taking
6 into consideration all of the various sentencing
7 factors, I can assure you, you have nothing to complain
8 about with the negotiated sentence." Do you remember
9 the judge saying that?
10 A. Yes, ma'am.
11 Q. And then he proceeded to sentence you for Promoting
12 Prison Contraband 1st Degree, two and a third to seven
13 years, with a fine $5,000, and also sentenced you for
14 the A misdemeanor of Criminal Facilitation in the 4th
15 Degree, definite term of one-year concurrent to the
16 Prison Contraband 1st sentence. Do you still feel like
17 the sentence that you got was unduly harsh or unfair?
18 A. I don't know if it was or not.
19 Q. You don't know?
20 A. I just know I want a chance.
21 Q. Well, now, the -- the person that we spent a good
22 deal of this interview talking about, former Inmate
23 Matt, he's dead, right?
24 A. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry.
25 Q. And that -- and that was as a result of contact that

1 he had with law enforcement that was looking for him.
2 And the other inmate, is it correct that he was serving
3 a term without the possibility of parole before?
4 A. I'm not sure what his actual sentence was, ma'am.
5 Q. In any event, would you think it fair to say that
6 they have consequences for their actions too that they
7 are paying or have paid, correct?
8 A. Yes, ma'am.
9 Q. Fair to say?
10 A. Yes, ma'am.
11 COMMISSIONER STANFORD: All right.
12 I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have any
13 other questions.
14 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: A couple.
15 Ms. Mitchell, you had said that your
16 relationship with Matt was simply inmate -- and, I'm
17 sorry, I forgot your title -- but as inmate/staff
18 person, other than the threats and everything,
19 right?
20 THE INMATE: Yes, sir. In my mind it
21 was. I know -- I know that they had that there was
22 a love triangle out there. There was never any --
23 any of that.
25 saying that there was never any physical sexual

1 contact between you and him ever?
2 THE INMATE: You mean sex, or --
3 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Any sex. Any
4 contact, other than a handshake or a pat on the
5 shoulder, anything that could be construed or was,
6 in fact, sexual in nature?
7 THE INMATE: He grabbed me, he kissed
8 me, and at one point he tried to shove my head down
9 on him, but I ran. I was afraid to tell anybody. I
10 screwed up; trust me, I know.
11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. And
12 you're saying that you never, ever, ever, ever
13 engaged in any sexual contact with him at all?
14 THE INMATE: No.
16 THE INMATE: I was feeling depressed,
17 I was feeling sad, and I guess the compliments made
18 me feel better about myself, but I never had sex
19 with the man. I never had sex.
20 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. Did you
21 ever do anything that could be construed as sexual
22 in nature, and I'm -- whether it's exposing
23 yourself, whether it's photographs, anything,
24 anything at all? Now, I want to just let you know
25 too -- go ahead. I'm sorry.

1 THE INMATE: No. Go ahead.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: No. Answer.
3 THE INMATE: I did do photos, but he
4 wouldn't leave me alone. He just kept after me and
5 after me and after me.
6 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I mean I just
7 think it's ironic that contrary to other reports and
8 investigations and things that were said -- and we
9 all know that, you know, we can't -- we're not going
10 to consider things that were just reported in the
11 news, but this investigation has uncovered multiple
12 things, not just you, but other issues within the
13 facility and now, you know, laws have been changed,
14 people have lost their jobs, reprimands, all kinds
15 of things --
17 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: -- due to what
18 you know, not only you did, but others allowed to
19 happen or engaged in, but it just does seem kind of
20 odd that you are trickling out details and yet when
21 you were asked during this interview about your
22 relationship, you never admitted to anything of a
23 sexual nature. You took pictures for him. I mean
24 you're trickling this stuff out and you know how
25 publicized this stuff was and the deep investigation

1 that went on within the department and information
2 that we're privy to, and yet you're really kind of
3 not just giving us the total story, I feel.
4 THE INMATE: I have given you the
5 total story. There was never any sexual anything
6 between Matt or I or Sweat.
7 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: What about
8 other inmates?
9 THE INMATE: No other inmates.
10 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Do you
11 understand that transmitting lewd photos, naked
12 photos, is something that teenagers do and people
13 actually get arrested for that?
14 THE INMATE: I know that. I know
15 that.
16 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: So that is
17 sexual in nature. People can be registered sex
18 offenders for that behavior.
19 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: How did you
20 take these photos?
21 THE INMATE: With my camera.
22 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Where?
23 THE INMATE: At my house.
24 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: And you brought
25 them in with you?

1 THE INMATE: Yes.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: And you gave
3 them to him?
4 THE INMATE: Your investigators have
5 all that. They have -- they took my computer, they
6 took my cameras, they took everything. They have
7 all that.
8 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. I mean
9 it is -- it is unfortunate, the entire situation
10 that happened, but it is convenient that he's now
11 dead and the only one to back up your story is you.
12 It just seems like that there's some stuff being
13 left out, and I understand you're upset and --
14 THE INMATE: There's nothing being
15 left out.
16 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. It feels
17 that way. I'm not telling you it is for sure, but
18 I'm telling you it feels that way, and there's
19 certain things that are just trickling out only
20 after deeper questions. And, you know, for
21 instance, earlier, that we talked about, you said
22 that you misunderstood my question, but I don't
23 think you did. I was very, very clear and very slow
24 in the way I asked you. You personally witnessed
25 the amount of control that he had within the

1 facility and, therefore, you felt that his threats
2 were actually possible, but yet you then said later
3 you never actually witnessed it, but you believed
4 it. You also were trained, prior to starting this
5 position or while you were in this position, to
6 watch out for these things with these inmates, that
7 they will play games and that they will try to gain
8 your confidence because they want certain things,
9 they want you to look the other way when they're
10 taking some salt or something back to their cube or
11 whatever it may be and yet none of that was enough
12 for you to recognize what was going on. As
13 Commissioner Smith said, when it happened on day
14 one, on day one, you should have saw it, cut it off.
15 You know, there are many inmates that we see that
16 have a Tier III ticket for some conduct where they
17 may have brushed up against a staff member, just
18 during paperwork or -- just touch them a teeny bit,
19 by accident sometimes, and those staff members
20 report it immediately because it needs to be
21 documented that this person did this by accident or
22 not, and there's reasons for all that, but yet you
23 allowed this to take shape. You didn't stop it the
24 first day, the second -- you allowed it to take
25 shape, and it does call into question your emotional

1 state, which you described to us, which is in
2 writing, but it really doesn't verify the reason
3 that you said that you allowed it to happen for so
4 long. You haven't really given credibility to your
5 claim of I was fearful; you're painting yourself as
6 the victim here.
7 THE INMATE: I'm not the victim.
8 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You were in a
9 position of power, some can argue, because you were
10 the staff member, they were the inmate.
11 Commissioner Smith just touched on something.
12 Giving those photographs can have you identified as
13 a discretionary sex offender. Do you understand
14 that sex offenders who are on parole supervision
15 will, in most cases, be required to take polygraph
16 tests, and they may ask you certain questions and,
17 if you lie on any of those, your parole will be
18 revoked immediately?
20 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Has anybody
21 explained to you? Based on that action, even if it
22 was just the pictures, as you say, that you could be
23 a parolee who is also a discretionary sex offender,
24 has anybody discussed that with you?
25 THE INMATE: No. No.

1 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. So that
2 creates additional circumstances for you. I wanted
3 to ask you something you said earlier. You said
4 that as far as employment, and down the road what
5 you would like to do, you wanted to get back into
6 the criminal justice field. In what way and why
7 after what has all -- all has taken place?
8 THE INMATE: I would like to be able
9 to go around and try to explain to people, you know,
10 how I got into my situation, what to look for, what
11 they should be doing, instead of like I did; don't
12 be stupid like I did.
14 THE INMATE: Don't let them get over
15 on you, don't get to the point where you're over
16 your head and you don't know how to get out. I'd
17 like to be -- because the training that you get is
18 not enough, and you don't get it -- it should be not
19 every however many years, it should be every year
20 updated, and -- I mean as far as the movies that
21 they show you, they're not recent. The information
22 they have is not recent. It's not --
23 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I don't care if
24 it was from the 1930s. I mean, come on, we're
25 adults, and I understand that you had rough

1 relationships in the past and your upbringing, but
2 let's not kid ourselves. How much training do you
3 -- common sense can't be trained. You have an
4 inmate who was already known to be very
5 manipulative. You're telling me that you needed
6 more training to find out that he was manipulating
7 you and the next thing you know it, he's threatening
8 you, trying to make you have sex with him, making
9 you take pictures and everything?
10 THE INTERPRETER: No. What I'm saying
11 is --
12 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You didn't need
13 updated training to recognize that. You're an
14 adult, you're a human being, you have some common
15 sense. You were given a position of great
16 importance and, by the way, your actions have
17 undermined a great program, programs that are
18 valuable to society as a whole because, when inmates
19 are engaged, there are many benefits to having these
20 programs. It's not just about, oh, give the inmate
21 a program for something to do. There's benefit out
22 of this. Your actions have undermined good
23 programs. People's positions have been altered in
24 many ways, their routines have been issued
25 statewide, 30,000 employees in this department, so

1 it wasn't all just about you. It wasn't all about
2 you. And you're saying that of all your colleagues
3 and all the years of experience you had, you needed
4 more training to recognize that an inmate, an
5 inmate, was starting to manipulate you and could
6 possibly put you in a position where now you are a
7 victim?
8 THE INMATE: No. It should be -- you
9 should be trained over every year so that you're not
10 letting yourself get too -- because, like I said,
11 you can get complacent. You just need to have that
12 constantly in your mind, and when you get going and
13 you're working, you just -- I don't know. Nobody
14 believes what I say anyway.
15 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I didn't say I
16 didn't believe some of what you're saying. I'm
17 finding it hard to understand, to be honest with you
18 there. I find it very hard to understand.
19 THE INMATE: All I want is a chance to
20 show that I am a responsible person and that I can
21 be a responsible person in the community. Yes, I
22 know I messed up. If I could take it all back, I
23 would, but I can't. Nobody knows, this is going to
24 go with me for the rest of my life. No matter what
25 I do, no matter what I say, I'm always going to be

1 that person. I'm always going to be the one.
2 Inmates are still suffering because everything
3 trickles down. Not everything that happens is my
4 fault but, because of my stupid, stupid mistake and
5 not doing what I should have done, everyone has
6 paid; everyone. Not just -- I mean all the families
7 that were put out there, worrying about their loved
8 ones, everyone in the community, I can't -- I can't
9 give them back anything. I can't.
10 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I know, you're
11 beyond that.
12 THE INMATE: If I could --
13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You're right,
14 though, it's beyond that. I mean, of course you
15 can't give it all back. You don't have 23 million
16 dollars plus to give back to the state, to the
17 taxpayers, so you can't give back people's fears
18 during that time, of course you can't, and we don't
19 expect that you're going to, but it's important for
20 you and also for us to understand how possibly, with
21 all the training -- with the little bit of training
22 that you're claiming in how this was able to happen,
23 and how to put it together, because the way that
24 you're explaining it, it's just hard to believe,
25 it's hard to believe, and there are some

1 inconsistencies with the way you've explained it or
2 the answers you've given, there's some
3 inconsistencies there, so I'm not going to --
4 THE INMATE: No one has believed me
5 from the beginning.
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Would you
7 believe this story? If you were in the opposite,
8 would you believe --
9 THE INMATE: I also know there was
10 things that weren't put out there.
11 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: I asked you a
12 question. Answer my question.
13 THE INMATE: I don't know. I don't
14 know. I just know that nobody believes me. I can
15 swear on a stack of Bibles and nobody will believe
16 anything I say.
17 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: When did you
18 have the opportunity with Matt to plan this escape?
19 This just doesn't happen, you know, in the morning
20 as they're coming in for work, this takes some time.
21 When did you have the opportunity to engage in that
22 dialog that they needed you to bring in all these
23 pieces of tools?
24 THE INMATE: When I was walking around
25 checking their work. When he first said it, I

1 walked away, I laughed. I didn't think he would
2 actually ever do anything like that.
3 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: So you're
4 telling me when he would be in doing work, that's
5 when he'd say, I need you to bring this in tomorrow
6 or I need naked pictures of you brought to me,
7 that's when he'd tell you these things?
8 THE INMATE: Yes.
9 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: In a room full
10 of people that are in the program?
11 THE INMATE: Pardon?
12 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: With a room of
13 full people that were also in the program?
14 THE INMATE: Yeah. He would call me
15 over to look at his work or something and, with all
16 these machines, they're not going to hear what he's
17 saying. When I first told him that I wasn't
18 bringing the hacksaw blades in, he got very furious
19 with me.
20 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Okay. So you
21 brought the hacksaw blade in. Maybe he was going to
22 use that to plunge through your husband's chest;
23 maybe it wasn't going to be for an escape, did you
24 ever think about that? Maybe you were bringing them
25 the tools that was going to kill your husband or

1 somebody else?
2 THE INMATE: No, I didn't.
3 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Does your
4 husband know everything?
5 THE INMATE: Yes. My husband knows
6 everything and my husband still stands by me and he
7 stands with me and he comes and sees me all the
8 time. He knows I love him.
9 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Through this
10 whole interview, you've almost exclusively talked
11 about Inmate Matt, who is dead. You don't mention
12 Inmate Sweat hardly at all and his involvement in
13 this.
14 THE INMATE: Because, apparently, I'm
15 guessing he was the one that was going to do all the
16 actual breaking out stuff. He -- Matt was the one,
17 I guess, he was the mastermind. I don't know. Just
18 please give me a chance.
19 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: And you said
20 in your statement here on your Parole Board Report,
21 "I feel remorse for the death of Inmate Matt." Why
22 do you feel remorse that he died?
23 THE INMATE: I just feel remorse for
24 all of it because --
25 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: No. I'm

1 asking you specifically your statement here is, "I
2 feel remorse for the death of Inmate Matt." Why do
3 you have remorse for his death?
4 THE INMATE: Because of me not doing
5 the right thing, a man died.
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: No. Because
7 an inmate manipulated you, an inmate manipulated
8 you. That inmate broke out of prison, that inmate
9 went out on the run, that inmate confronted a law
10 enforcement officer, that's why he's dead, and he
11 wouldn't have been in any of that situation if he
12 didn't commit the original crime. And you further
13 go on to say, "And for what Inmate Sweat is going
14 through now because of my actions." What is he
15 going through, confinement? He's an inmate.
16 THE INMATE: Confinement.
17 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: He's an
18 inmate. He's supposed to be confined. It's like --
19 it's now like you have taken responsibility for
20 these two inmates. It's like you've taken over
21 what's happened to them, woe, is them. You know
22 what? They led a life that was non-conducive to
23 good behavior, they put themselves further deep in
24 it.

1 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: You aided in
2 that, but everyone makes their own choices, as you
3 did. This was not a mistake, this was a clear
4 choice that you made to do this. We're required to
5 take training every year, including sexual
6 harassment training, every year there's GORE
7 mandates through DOCCS. You weren't given sexual
8 harassment training every year?
9 THE INMATE: We weren't given training
10 three quarters of the time. We were supposed to
11 have training and they wouldn't have anything for
12 us, nothing. A lot of times we sat in our shops on
13 training days doing absolutely nothing.
14 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: As I told you
15 at the beginning, as Commissioner Coppola touched on
16 it too --
17 THE INMATE: I know yous don't believe
18 me.
19 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: No. There's
20 right and wrong, there's choices. There's choices
21 every one --
22 THE INMATE: I made the wrong choices.
23 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Yes, ma'am,
24 you did. Yes, ma'am, you did.
25 THE INMATE: I have to deal with that.

1 I have to deal with it everyday.
2 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: You know, you
3 say that you've got to deal with this everyday and
4 you're sorry for all these people. What do you
5 think the community is going to say when you go back
6 out? Because you go out some point in time, whether
7 that's today, down the road. Who knows? We have
8 yet to make a decision. What do you think the
9 community is going to say? When you come back and
10 you're at the diner, working, what do you think the
11 community is going to say?
12 THE INMATE: I know what they're going
13 to say.
14 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: And how are
15 you going to handle that?
16 THE INMATE: I'm going to handle it
17 like I do, like I handle everything in here.
18 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Not very well
19 from the looks of it today. How are you going to
20 handle that when the first person comes in, you're
21 pouring their cup of coffee and they're like, Oh,
22 you're that woman; how are you going to handle that?
23 Is that going to send you back into bad decision
24 making?
25 THE INMATE: No.

1 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Is that going
2 to resurrect the past history of substance abuse?
3 THE INMATE: I can handle that out
4 there because I'll be with my family. I'll have the
5 support of them.
6 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Which then
7 goes to my last and final statement, your family was
8 there through this whole thing, you should have went
9 to them, even if --
10 THE INMATE: I know I should have.
11 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: -- you didn't
12 feel like you had anywhere to turn to within the
13 DOCCS' system, you had a family.
14 THE INMATE: I know. I know.
15 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Nothing
16 further.
17 THE INMATE: Trust me, I know.
19 Q. Ms. Mitchell --
20 A. Yes, ma'am.
21 Q. -- I just want to confirm you understand you have
22 restitution. According to your uniform sentence and
23 commitment sheet, it says that the restitution issued by
24 the court at the time of your sentence was $87,825.10,
25 is that right?
1 A. Yes, ma'am.
2 Q. Has that been converted to a -- completely to a civil
3 judgement?
4 A. I don't know what you mean, ma'am.
5 Q. Are you paying any portion of that now through the
6 prison -- inmate prison account?
7 A. Yes, ma'am.
8 Q. So some monies are being taken out of your earnings?
9 A. Yes. Yes, ma'am.
10 Q. I want to note that our records indicate that you
11 have been designated an
12 , you're aware of that?
13 A. I don't know what that is.
14 Q.
15
16
17
18
19 A. Yes, ma'am.
20 Q. Do you know the name of ?
21 A. No, I don't. I have it back in my room. I'm not
22 sure what it is.
23 Q.
24 A. .
25 Q.
1 A. .
2 Q.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And which of that?
6 A. Group time.
7 Q. And how often is that?
8 A. We get a -- the third Thursday of every month.
9 Q. And is that helpful to you?
10 A. Yes, it is.
11 Q.
12
13
14 is that right?
15 A. Yes, ma'am.
16 Q.
17 ?
18 A. No, ma'am.
19 Q. ?
20 A. No, ma'am.
21 Q. Looking forward to your future, do you think
22
23
24 ?
25 A. I feel that --
4 .
5 Q.
8 ?
9 A. Yes, ma'am.
10 Q. Okay.
11 A. That's why I already have that set up that, as soon
12 as I go home, all I have to do is call to set up a few
13 appointments.
14 Q.
15
16 ?
17 A. No.
18 Q. How about poor judgement and reasoning skills, do you
19 think that that may have been a contributing factor?
20 A. It could have, definitely.
21 Q. How about impulse control, do you think that could
22 have been a factor in the choices you made?
23 A. Yes, ma'am.
24 Q. And you did say that there was some degree of
25 flattery or compliments that were being paid, is that

1 how that all began, the manipulation, it began with
2 people --
3 A. People.
4 Q. -- particularly Mr. Matt being nice to you?
5 A. Yes, ma'am.
6 Q. And how did it turn? When was the first time
7 something happened and it was different, it wasn't so
8 sweet, it wasn't so nice, it wasn't so complimentary?
9 Can you remember the first instance where it felt it
10 made you feel fear instead of complimenting?
11 A. When he had asked me to bring in the hacksaw blades,
12 I said, I can't do something like that, and he got very
13 angry -- well, I say "angry", but, actually, when I was
14 walking away, he made a comment. I didn't quite hear
15 what it was. I just have an assumption that it probably
16 wasn't good when I -- whatever it was he said, because
17 he was angry the rest of the day, and it just -- it
18 wasn't --
19 Q. And how long was that moment before you're actually
20 bringing in the first contraband?
21 A. It was probably a couple weeks because he started
22 acting really different. I'm not sure.
23 Q. So the time period in which you brought in the
24 contraband was just a two-week period of time leading up
25 to the escape?
1 A. No, no, no. No, I brought the hacksaw blades in long
2 before the escape actually happened. It's just, like I
3 said, he --
4 Q. So it was about two weeks from that moment when he
5 had a reaction to you're saying "no" initially to the
6 time when you gave in and started bringing things in?
7 A. Yes, ma'am.
8 Q. And how long was that before the escape?
9 A. It was at least two or three months before the -- the
10 escape.
11 Q. Now, in the time in between, that time when it felt
12 different to you, his reaction, and the escape, did he
13 ever go back to being nice, complimentary?
14 A. Yes, he did.
15 Q. Sweat even?
16 A. Yes, ma'am, he did.
17 Q. And how would you describe your interaction with
18 Sweat during this whole period of time, from the time
19 that Matt first started in your class and behaved nicely
20 and the escape, how would you describe your contact with
21 the other man?
22 A. The other man wasn't in my shop at the time. I
23 didn't see him all the time. I only saw him
24 periodically and I would -- you know, he'd say hi and
25 I'd say hi back. He might say, How was your day? And
1 I'd answer back, but he wasn't actually in the shop. He
2 was in another shop because he'd been taken out of my
3 shop over something to do with a comment that he made to
4 one of my bosses; they come in one day and took him out,
5 so --
6 Q. So it sounds like you and he had a fairly cordial
7 relationship, but not to the extent like with Matt?
8 A. Yes, ma'am.
9 Q. And at what point in time prior to the escape did you
10 know they were working together?
11 A. When Inmate Matt come in and told me that Inmate
12 Sweat had made a hole through the wall, he was going
13 down and he found a tool box with power tools or
14 something in it, it was tools anyway in the box, and he
15 had broke the lock or picked the lock or something and
16 got into the tool box that had been left there.
17 Q. And at this point, were you given to understand he
18 had made the hole because of the tools that you brought
19 in and found some other tools as a result of going
20 through that hole?
21 A. Yes. Yes, ma'am.
22 Q. And Matt shared that with you, and that's when you
23 knew that he was working with Sweat?
24 A. Yes, ma'am.
25 Q. Thank you, ma'am. I don't have any other questions.

1 Is there anything that you feel is important for us to
2 know about your plans, the work you've done on yourself,
3 anything we haven't talked about that you think is
4 important to leave us with?
5 A. I just -- I worked really hard to -- I'm sorry. I
6 worked really hard to, like I said, make myself a better
7 person, understanding what I did wrong, how I got to
8 that point and I just wish that I could take everything
9 back. I apologize for everything, the fear. I can't
10 take back everything, I wish I could. I just wish and I
11 pray to God that you will allow me the chance to prove
12 that I can be that respected person that I used to be,
13 and that I can show you that I can be in the community
14 and you don't have to worry about me ever screwing up
15 again.
16 Q. Thank you, ma'am. We will take everything into
17 account.
18 COMMISSIONER STANFORD: One more
19 question?
20 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: As we continue
21 on the conversation, things come up and then I have
22 questions.
23 You told Commissioner Stanford that
24 you had brought the hacksaw in about three months
25 prior to their actual escape, right?

1 THE INMATE: Yes, sir.
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. So you
3 brought the hacksaw in. So prior to bringing in the
4 hacksaw, how much time -- you know, the
5 relationship, we'll say, or whether -- you know,
6 whatever was going on prior to bringing in the
7 hacksaw, how much time had elapsed there?
8 THE INMATE: What do you mean, sir?
9 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Well, from the
10 beginning of it being more than him just being the
11 inmate in your shop to little, you know, gestures or
12 comments or whatever started happening, how much
13 time had elapsed between there and you bringing in
14 the hacksaw? How long did that go on for that you
15 brought in the hacksaw?
16 THE INMATE: Before I brought 'em in,
17 probably about a month.
18 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: And when did
19 you bring in the pictures of yourself?
20 THE INMATE: Those were the last thing
21 that I brought in and that was -- I don't know. It
22 was just before they escaped. I'm not --
23 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. How long
24 had he been in your shop prior to bringing in the
25 hacksaw?
1 THE INMATE: Inmate Matt, you mean?
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Yes.
3 THE INMATE: He had been -- well, I
4 had been in that shop a year.
5 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. So he
6 was already in the shop when you started working
7 there?
8 THE INMATE: Yes. He was already in
9 the shop, yes.
10 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: So 11 months
11 went by and there was nothing and then, all of a
12 sudden, something?
13 THE INMATE: You mean as far as
14 wanting the tools?
15 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: No, as far as
16 the relationship. I mean you said you brought him
17 in the hacksaw, you didn't tell anybody he grabbed
18 you, kissed you, tried to force your head down. You
19 said that all those things were out of fear because
20 he was running the prison and you didn't know who to
21 go to, but are you telling us that in -- within 30
22 days time, he was able to --
23 THE INMATE: No, no, no. I mean me.
24 I would laugh and joke with him; of course, I
25 laughed and joked with all the inmates. I mean I

1 wasn't -- I never was --
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: How did he
3 instill enough fear in you, and you believed it so
4 much, you're saying it only took about 30 days of a
5 different type of relationship for you to actually
6 bring him in a hacksaw? So he in someway was in
7 your presence all that time and yet it was only 11
8 months afterwards that somehow things changed and
9 now within that one month you went from --
10 THE INMATE: Because when that man
11 said he was going to do something, he did it.
12 Because there was one inmate that come in and the
13 inmate didn't like working for females and he was,
14 you know, sarcastic, but I didn't pay any intention
15 to it. Well, Inmate Matt had went to another inmate
16 in another shop and said, You either take care of it
17 or I am going to.
18 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Why would he do
19 that for you?
20 THE INMATE: Because he had always
21 told my husband and I, and Inmate Sweat too, they
22 had always told my husband and I, if anything goes
23 down in the prison, you won't have to worry, no one
24 will hurt you. We'll make sure you're safe.
25 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Wait a minute.

1 He told your husband that?
2 THE INMATE: Yes.
3 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I thought you
4 said your husband had no knowledge of any of this
5 that was going on?
6 THE INMATE: No. He told -- when we
7 first started he had said that we never had to worry
8 about anything happening to us because they would
9 make sure we were safe, both of us.
10 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. And at
11 that point, you're saying -- I understand your
12 relationship that was very twisted, in my mind, but
13 now you're saying your husband was told this by
14 Matt, wouldn't your husband, you know, why are you
15 protecting me? What are you protecting me for? I
16 just work here. Why would Matt tell your husband,
17 if anything ever went down in that prison, that you
18 would be protected, why would he just out of the
19 blue say that?
20 THE INMATE: I'm sure we weren't the
21 only ones he ever said it to.
22 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: No. Let's
23 focus on -- you're the one being interviewed. Why
24 would your husband -- if he didn't know about what
25 was going on, why wouldn't he question an inmate

1 just out of the blue, gratuitously saying, for no
2 reason whatsoever, Hey, if anything ever goes down
3 in here, we'll protect you and Joyce; you don't have
4 to worry about anything. Why would he say that to
5 your husband?
6 THE INMATE: Because he always said we
7 treated them like human beings, not like scums of
8 the earth.
9 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: And your
10 husband never questioned to you that you were around
11 that more than he was, he never questioned you, Why
12 is he saying this? Why -- is there anything going
13 on? What's going on here that he would want to
14 protect us?
15 THE INMATE: No.
16 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Or was there
17 something going on at the prison, was there an
18 impending riot or something? It's very bizarre
19 that --
20 THE INMATE: Pardon?
21 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Or your
22 husband didn't further say, you know, was something
23 going to go down at the prison? I mean heightened
24 security? I mean I would agree with Commissioner
25 Coppola that to say something out of the blue like

1 that is very, very unusual.
2 THE INMATE: It was -- when we first
3 started, I mean I -- I don't know why he said it.
4 All I know is that's what he said. Him and Sweat
5 would always tell us, if anything ever happens, you
6 wouldn't have to worry about anybody hurting you.
7 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: You said that
8 you had just a passerby relationship with Sweat.
9 Why would Sweat say that if you didn't really have
10 anything to do with him? You didn't know that he
11 was involved with Matt until they were ready to
12 break out.
13 THE INMATE: I said they said this
14 before, when we first started, because we treated
15 them like people.
16 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: What do you
17 mean, "first started" what, first started your jobs?
18 THE INMATE: Yes. After a little
19 while of being --
20 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I thought you
21 worked there for several years?
22 THE INMATE: I did, but when we first
23 started -- because we were all -- I had a lot of
24 inmates tell me that they enjoyed working for myself
25 and my husband because we treated them like human

1 beings, not like scums of the earth --
2 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: What was your
3 husband's position?
4 THE INMATE: The same as mine.
5 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Oh, but in a
6 different shop?
7 THE INMATE: He was in a different
8 shop, but in the same building.
9 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Was he -- was
10 Sweat in his shop?
11 THE INMATE: He's worked with Sweat,
12 yes.
13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: It just seems
14 kind of odd that out of the blue they would offer
15 that type of protection to you and, you know, even
16 out of gratuity for treating them like human beings.
17 But, anyway, you're saying that the time between the
18 relationship changing and the bringing in of the
19 hacksaw was about a month?
20 THE INMATE: Yes, sir.
21 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: He must have
22 been a magician, because it only took him about 30
23 days to go from being nice to being mean to you
24 believing he was going to kill you and that he had
25 all this power, but the prior 11 months that you had
1 been around him, not one iota of any of that had
2 taken place. You told Commissioner Stanford that he
3 -- because you kind of brushed him off on one of his
4 requests -- that he was mad and he said something as
5 he walked away, but you had no idea what he said,
6 but you just could tell he was mad. I mean he's
7 just an inmate that's in your shop and you didn't
8 even know what he said. He could've said, All
9 right. I was just joking. But you were in fear so
10 much, but you didn't even know what he said when he
11 walked away. It sounds like you're -- either you're
12 not being forthcoming with everything that's going
13 on between you and him, or it sounds like you were
14 so easily manipulated that it shocks the belief that
15 this could happen over a 30-day period of time but,
16 yet, you were around him for 11 months, and for some
17 reason within that 30 days, the whole world was
18 turned upside down, including yours.
19 THE INMATE: Apparently, I'm easily
20 manipulated, but that's at that time, I'm not
21 anymore.
22 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Okay. Well,
23 I'm glad that in a longer period of time you feel
24 that that's better but, you know, let's be honest,
25 I've led you down some questions here that you've

1 changed your statements a few times during the
2 interview, so you don't even know if I was
3 manipulating you to get those answers out of you,
4 right?
5 THE INMATE: Trust me, I know you
6 don't believe me.
7 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: I didn't say I
8 didn't believe you. I just said it doesn't add up,
9 that's basically all I can add to it, so I'm --
10 THE INMATE: No one has believed me
11 right from day one, I know that.
12 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: All right.
13 Well, thank you for answering --
14 THE INMATE: No one will give me the
15 benefit of the doubt.
16 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Thank you for
17 answering my questions. I'm finished.
19 Q. Okay, ma'am. I do want the record to note that
20 several times during our interview you have become
21 emotional and teary. I know this has been hard for you.
22 A. I just want to go home.
23 Q. I thank you for answering our questions. We do know
24 that going home is a priority for you, but I want you to
25 know that your work begins when you say it begins. You
1 want to show your -- yourself stronger, a changed
2 person, you have the power to do that right where you
3 are. I'm pleased by what I see in the record, the
4 efforts that you're making, okay?
5 A. I can tell you that I don't get angry when women say
6 something. I let it go in one ear and right out the
7 other. I've -- well, I've even looked at them when they
8 said, This is all your fault this is happening. I'll
9 say, Yeah, it's my fault. Good thing I got broad
10 shoulders. I'm not trying to be mean when I say it, I
11 just -- I've taken the responsibility for all of it.
12 Like I said, woman are still -- or inmates, period, all
13 the way around are still feeling the trickle because of
14 my lack of common sense. Everyone is still feeling
15 that. I wish to God I could take it back. I wish I
16 could just take it all back, I wish I could go home and
17 prove to you that, if you let me go home, I am going to
18 be that responsible, respected person in the community
19 again. I can do that.
20 Q. Well, that goes to my point, ma'am. You're taking
21 some action, we can see the fruit of that in your parole
22 report, the completions that you have made. The
23 information in your file shows you are working and
24 moving in the right direction, so don't think that it
25 starts on some magic day. You've already begun the work

1 and we see it, okay?
2 A. (Inmate nods head.)
3 Q. Thank you.
4 A. Yes, ma'am.
5 Q. Thank you, ma'am. We'll make a decision after
6 deliberating, finishing review of your records, and
7 we'll get you a copy of it as soon as possible.
8 A. Thank you, ma'am. Have a good day.
9 Q. You too.
10 (The inmate was excused.)
11 (After due deliberation by the Parole
12 Board panel, the following decision
13 was rendered:)
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
1 D E C I S I O N.
2 Merit release denied; reappear at
3 parole eligibility.
4 The Board of Parole has considered
5 your institutional adjustment, however,
6 discretionary release shall not be granted merely as
7 a reward for good conduct or efficient performance
8 of duties while confined. As noted by Judge Ryan at
9 your sentencing, The economic and non-economic
10 costs suffered by so many people is incalculable.
11 Yet, it is fair to say that your crimes cost New
12 York State millions in response to the escape of
13 Inmates Matt and Sweat that your actions
14 facilitated.
15 You allowed your common sense and
16 supervisory duties to be compromised by developing
17 unprofessional relationships with Matt and Sweat.
18 You did not tell anyone of escape related requests
19 or plans as events were occurring and offered
20 reasons for not doing so that neither Judge Ryan nor
21 the Board found credible. You present yourself more
22 as a victim than a responsible participant and
23 appear to be emotionally unstable and easily
24 manipulated.
25 In spite of your cooperation after the

1 escape, your presentence investigation report
2 reflects that your statements included lies and half
3 truths given in a piecemeal fashion. This
4 apparently willful failure to volunteer
5 comprehensive and truthful disclosure of information
6 began during the investigation and continued during
7 your interview with the Board.
8 The Board has weighed the contents of
9 your privately prepared parole report. Letters of
10 support from your husband, son and others are
11 compelling as they describe your positive qualities.
12 Receipt of merit consideration and earned
13 eligibility, program evaluations and completions
14 have been noted along with your stated and
15 documented residence and employment release plans.
16 We question the propriety of your goal to further
17 your education and work in criminal justice. We have
18 also considered your favorable COMPAS risk
19 assessment and individualized case plan.
20 All relevant factors considered, while
21 guided by risk and needs principles, the presumption
22 created in your favor is rebutted by our review of
23 the record and interview that lead us to conclude
24 that if released at this time that your release
25 would be incompatible with the welfare of society

1 and that there is a reasonable probability that you
2 would not live and remain at liberty without again
3 violating the law.
5 (All commissioners concur.)
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11
12
13
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15
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18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
3 I hereby certify that the proceedings and
4 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the notes
5 taken by me on the above cause and that this is a correct
6 transcript of the same to the best of my ability.
9 Christina M. Wolcott
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Joyce Mitchell Parole Transcript

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Joyce Mitchell Parole Transcript

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1 NYS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

2 AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION

5 Parole Board Interview

13 HELD AT: Bedford Hills C.F.

20 ALSO PRESENT: R. MORALES, SORC

22 AT FACILITY: J. GREENFIELD, ORC

25 VERBATIM REPORTER: Christina M. Wolcott

4 Q. Are you Joyce Mitchell?

5 A. How are you today? Yes, ma'am.

6 Q. I'm fine; thanks, Ms. Mitchell. I'm Commissioner

7 Stanford and I'm here today with Commissioner Smith on

8 my right, your left, and Commissioner Coppola.

9 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Good morning.

10 THE INMATE: Good morning.

11 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Hello.

12 THE INMATE: How are you?

13 COMMISSIONER COPPOLA: Good; thanks

15 COMMISSIONER J. SMITH: Fine; thank

17 Q. Ms. Mitchell, I want to begin by saying that we've

18 received your parole report. It's entitled, "A parole

19 Report on Behalf of Joyce Mitchell" and -- presented to

21 MSW, working out of Syracuse, dated January 9th, 2017.

22 This was prepared on your behalf, ma'am?

23 A. Yes, it was, ma'am.

24 Q. Thank you. We do have that. I need to make a

25 correction too, at the outset, to your Parole Board

1 Report. I believe the report you have or you would have

2 received a copy of in the area that said "Official

3 Statements," judge, DA, defense attorney, it's checked

4 "no" for all three. Since this report was prepared,

5 however, letters did come in from the Clinton County

6 District Attorney's Office and also a letter came in

7 from your attorney at the time of your plea, I believe,

8 from the Law Offices of Stephen A. Johnston; that was

11 Q. He wrote a letter on your behalf January 17th of

12 2017. So after the Parole Board Report was prepared,

13 letters came in, so I'm going to correct my copy of the

15 corrections are being made to the record and that we

16 have things that they didn't have -- the facility did

17 not have when this report was created, okay?

18 A. Thank you, ma'am.

19 Q. And the law requires that when we have them,

20 responses from the judge, D.A. or your attorney, that we

21 do consider them, all right?

23 Q. You're welcome. So I'm just noting with my initials

24 and today's date "yes" instead of "no" by the D.A. and

25 defense attorney after "official statements". All

1 right. I'm going to read the detailed present offense

2 and then I'm going to go into some other things in our

3 records. "Under Indictment Number 102S" -- and in this

4 case, I think it's a superior -- supreme court

5 information, actually -- "102S15991: The subject

6 knowingly and unlawfully introduced hacksaw blades,

7 chisels, a punch and a screwdriver bit into Clinton

8 Correctional Facility. The subject intentionally and

9 unlawfully introduced contraband tools and hardware to

10 Inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt. The subject did

11 engage in conduct which provided Inmates Sweat and Matt

12 the means to commit the felony of Escape 1st Degree."

13 And for your participation in these acts, you pled

14 guilty to Promoting Prison Contraband 1st Degree, is

17 Q. Thank you. And you were sentenced in Clinton County

18 by the Honorable Kevin K. Ryan. As I said, you were