David Sweat, the convicted cop-killer who spent three weeks on the run after busting out of an upstate prison, was hauled into court in shackles Thursday in his first public appearance since his capture — and a “not guilty” plea was entered, despite his obvious guilt in the escape.
He was under heavy guard for his arraignment in upstate Plattsburgh on charges of escape and promoting prison contraband in his June 6 breakout from the Clinton Correctional Facility with fellow murderer Richard Matt, who was killed by a federal agent.
Sweat, 35, had his right arm in a brace and sling — a result, a prosecutor said, of his being shot by a state trooper during his capture near the Canadian border.
Sweat declined to address the charges, so a judge entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 3¹/₂ to seven years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000.
Sweat is already serving life without parole for murdering a sheriff’s deputy in 2002.
‘‘He committed a crime in this county, and I’m prosecuting him for that crime. To the county, it won’t be a great expense,” Clinton County DA Andrew Wylie said.
Joyce “Tillie” Mitchell, a former worker at the Dannemora prison, pleaded guilty last month to smuggling hacksaw blades and other tools to Sweat and Matt.
A deal with prosecutors has spared her from charges over her admitted affair with Matt or an alleged plot to murder her husband as part of the cons’ escape.
Mitchell was supposed to have provided them with a getaway car when they emerged from a manhole near the prison, but she got cold feet and never showed.