Risky love in prison sewing shop is a pattern
DANNEMORA, N.Y. — The tailor shop at this maximum-security prison is gaining a reputation as the love after lockup place.
For the second time in two years, a staff seamstress has pleaded guilty to an inappropriate relationship with a male inmate in the shop.
The latest episode didn’t gain the national publicity of the first incident. That involved staff seamstress Joyce Mitchell, 58, helping two convicted killers escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in a breakout reminiscent of the movie “Shawshank Redemption.”
The well-planned escape resulted in a massive manhunt and caused widespread fear in this northeast New York region for 22 days in June of 2016. The nightmare ended when one of the killers, Richard Matt, was shot dead and the other, David Sweat, was shot and captured. Mitchell was sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
Seamstress Denise Prell’s case wasn’t nearly so dramatic. She was accused of being intimate with an inmate in the prison tailor shop, a relationship that included her giving the convict a $100 bill.
Visibly nervous, she pleaded guilty Tuesday in Clinton County Court in Plattsburgh to misdemeanor charges of sexual abuse, promoting prison contraband and misconduct. She will be sentenced Nov. 11 and could get up to two years in the county jail and $24,500 in fines.
“It was horrible,” Prell, 39, said after her court appearance. “I’m guilty, but it’s not all black and white.”
Prell’s attorney, Justin Herzog, said pleading guilty was her best option. “She’s owning up to her actions and that lends itself to showing her remorse,” he said. “The hope is that by her cooperating, which she has the entire time, this will reflect positively on her at sentencing.”
Pell was arrested and charged nearly a year ago with having an improper relationship with the inmate. She was observed embraced in an intimate kiss with the convict, triggering an investigation.
The convict, serving time for first-degree manslaughter, was transferred to another prison.
Details for this story were provided by the Plattsburgh, N.Y., Press-Republican.