Gov. Cuomo: Escaped prisoners could be 'in Mexico by now'

(Image credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

published 15 June 2015

As the manhunt continues for two convicted murderers who escaped from a prison in upstate New York last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Sunday the men could be near the Clinton Correctional Facility or "in Mexico by now."

"We don't know if they are still in the area," he said during a news conference. Authorities are focusing their search for Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 38, in the fields and woods around the prison. District Attorney Andrew Wylie told CNN that the pair planned to have prison employee Joyce Mitchell, 51, who worked in the prison tailor shop, drive them seven hours away to an unknown destination after they escaped. Mitchell, who is now jailed, backed out at the last minute "because she did love her husband and didn't want to do this to him."

On Friday, Mitchell was arraigned on a felony charge of promoting prison contraband and a misdemeanor count of criminal facilitation. She is accused of befriending Matt and Sweat and smuggling in chisels, hacksaw blades, a punch, and a screwdriver bit to help them escape, The Associated Press reports. Cuomo said there will be "zero tolerance" for anyone who assisted the escapees, adding, "they will be fully prosecuted.”