Rochester Man Sentenced for Role in Jail Escape

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Eddie R. Palmer, 37, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted of aiding escape, was sentenced to time served (approximately 15 months) by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Noto, who handled the case, stated that the defendant Palmer and Joseph Mitchell escaped from the Monroe County Jail on March 31, 2011. Palmer served as a "look-out" to warn if guards were approaching while Mitchell sawed the bars on windows inside the jail. The defendant also helped Mitchell break the outside jail window through which the two ultimately escaped. Palmer and Mitchell were then picked up by Lakesia Binion and transported to an area near Sodus, N.Y. where Mathias Smith helped them hide. The two defendants were apprehended approximately a week later on April 8, 2011, inside a camping trailer located on a residential property.

            Palmer is the last defendant to be sentenced in this case.  Mitchell was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the escape and drug trafficking conspiracy. Binion was sentenced to three years of supervised  release for her role in the escape and Smith received a sentence of two years probation.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell, New York Field Division, officers of the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Sheppard, the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina and investigators of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn.