The “Shawskank” prison seamstress who helped two violent jailbirds escape from a maximum-security upstate prison could likely be out of jail herself in a matter of weeks, The Post has learned.
Joyce Mitchell, 55, has been “tentatively approved” for release and parole supervision on February 8, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The state Board of Parole also has the ability to set “special conditions” on the release of Mitchell, nicknamed “Tillie,” if necessary.
She is being held at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Westchester for assisting the escape of murderer Richard Matt and cop-killer David Sweat from the Clinton Correction Facility in the upstate town of Dannemora, NY near the Canadian border.
Mitchell supplied the pair with hacksaw blades and other tools aiding their escape, and has been accused of having sex with the criminals—which she has denied.
She has been denied parole three times since being sentenced in September 2015 for the promotion of prison contraband.
Her maximum sentence runs through June 2022.
Actor and director Ben Stiller created the Showtime series “Escape at Dannemora” first released in 2018, which details the 23-day hunt for the jail-breakers during the summer of 2015.
Matt ended up being shot dead, and Sweat was captured by law enforcement. He is currently serving out a lifetime sentence in a maximum security prison near Buffalo, NY.