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'Shawshank' Worker Admits Role In Breakout

'Shawshank' Worker Admits Role In Breakout

A female prison worker has pleaded guilty to helping two convicted killers escape a maximum-security facility in upstate New York.

Joyce Mitchell admitted smuggling hacksaw blades, chisels, and other tools to Richard Matt and David Sweat who broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility on 6 June.

The 51-year-old, who worked as a tailor shop instructor at the prison, faces up to seven years behind bars for her role in the escape.

Authorities said Mitchell hid the tools in meat kept in the tailor shop refrigerator.

A corrections officer then took the meat to Matt and Sweat, who were being held in a unit where inmates are allowed to cook their own meals.

Investigators believe the officer was unaware of the plot, prosecutors said. He was released on bail after being held on charges including promoting prison contraband.

Matt and Sweat used the tools to cut their way out of their cells, and after roaming the inner walls of the prison at night for several months , eventually found a hot steam pipe that led beyond the prison walls.

The pair remained on the run for three weeks until Matt, 49, was shot dead by a border patrol agent.

Sweat, 35, was wounded by gunfire and captured two days later.

Mitchell was arrested on 12 June and suspended from her job without pay.

Authorities said she got close to the inmates and agreed to be their getaway driver but backed out because she felt guilty.

Prosecutors also alleged the trio discussed killing Mitchell's husband.

Lyle Mitchell was in court on Tuesday when his wife entered the guilty plea, but he declined to speak to reporters afterward.

Mr Mitchell's lawyer had previously said his client was "blown away" after learning his wife had helped the men escape and possibly discussed a plot to kill him.

The brazen escape was compared to the 1994 hit film The Shawshank Redemption.

Sweat reportedly told authorities he and Matt had joked that it took actor Tim Robbins' character 20 years to break out, while they managed to do it in much less time.