N.Y. prison chief, others placed on administrative after escape

DANNEMORA, N.Y., June 30 (UPI) -- A dozen officials at Clinton Correctional Facility, including the prison's superintendent, have been placed on administrative leave after two escapees led police on a two-month, multi-state chase.

Steven Racette, the superintendent at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, two other high-level prison administrators and nine guards are on leave "as part of the ongoing review," the New York Department of Corrections said in a written statement.

On June 6, Richard Matt, 49, and and David Sweat, 35, escaped from the maximum-security facility in northern New York and led some 1,500 police officers on a game of cat and mouse for two months. Matt was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer on Friday. Sweat was shot and captured Sunday, just miles from the Canadian border.

While local investigators continue to piece together the details of the escape, the FBI has joined with an investigation of its own Monday, into possible corruption and drug trafficking at the facility. Investigators are trying to determine if Matt and Sweat played a role in the alleged drug trafficking ring.