New York, Jun 30 (EFE).- Twelve people working at the maximum security prison in upstate New York from which two dangerous inmates escaped were put on administrative leave as the investigation into the breakout continues, authorities said Tuesday.
David Sweat, serving life behind bars for the 2002 murder of a sheriff's deputy, and Richard Matt, serving 25 years to life for killing and dismembering his boss in 2007, broke out of the prison on the night of June 5-6.
Matt was shot dead by police last Friday and Sweat was wounded and captured on Sunday.
The New York prisons department said that the 12 people placed on administrative leave include three members of the Clinton Correctional Facility management team and nine other prison employees.
According to prison officials consulted by NBC, the warden of the prison, Stephen Racette, and his assistant warden are among the dozen employees put on administrative leave.
Authorities have been holding Joyce Mitchell, who worked in the prison candy store, for several days, along with prison guard Gary Palmer, both of whom are accused of helping the inmates break out by secretly passing tools to them that they used to dig a tunnel.
According to authorities, Mitchell had agreed to transport the inmates to Mexico, but she ultimately backed out of that plan, and so the escapees changed their escape route and headed for a forested region in northern New York state with the aim of crossing over into Canada.
CBS reported that the FBI is investigating the possibility that an illegal drug network was operating inside the prison.
