AP Sources: Epstein Jail Guards Had Been Offered Plea Deal

Federal prosecutors offered a plea deal to two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night of his death, but the officers have declined the offer, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.The existence of the plea offer signals the Justice Department is considering criminal charges in connection with the wealthy financier’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August. The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.

The guards on Epstein’s unit are suspected of failing to check on him every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had. As part of the proposed plea deal, prosecutors wanted the guards to admit they falsified the prison records, according to the people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.

Biden political priorities impeded Iran negotiations, former secretary of state admits

Machado tells US oil giants Venezuela will become beacon of wealth creation after Trump ousted Maduro

Danish PM Frederiksen resigns after lackluster election for Social Democrats, Moderates seek to wield power

Why CPAC has a golden opportunity to reestablish itself as the ‘go-to conservative conference’

Newsom’s Social Media Team Freaks, Glowingly Compares Candidate to ‘American Psycho’ Who Used Acid to Mutilate Woman

Illinois Gov Pritzker admits ‘real failures’ as slain Chicago student’s hometown pays tribute in lights

LA model and influencer charged with using dating apps to burglarize homes of elderly, wealthy victims

Israel funds front websites in attempt to push ChatGPT into promoting pro-war messaging

Chicago Mayor Who Said ‘We Cannot Jail Our Way Out of Violent Crime’ Proves We Can As Student Allegedly Murdered by Criminal Illegal

SEE IT: Travelers sound off as ICE agents deployed to airports as shutdown drags past 40 days

American Dennis Coyle lands in Texas after over a year in Taliban captivity

Maryland Dems mocked for prioritizing tampons in men’s bathrooms amid state deficit: ‘Nonsense’

Matt Mahan moves to boost sagging poll numbers in California free-for-all

US, Israeli officials insist Iran’s speaker is negotiating despite denials

Trump urges RNC chair’s wife to run for Congress, pledges endorsement: ‘RUN, SYDNEY, RUN!’

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had no comment on the plea offer. Both guards were working overtime because of staffing shortages. They have been placed on administrative leave while the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general investigate the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. The 66-year-old had been awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls. Epstein was placed on suicide watch after he was found on his cell floor July 23 with bruises on his neck. Multiple people familiar with operations at the jail have said Epstein was then taken off suicide watch about a week before his death, meaning he was less closely monitored but still supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.

Epstein’s death exposed mounting evidence that the chronically understaffed Metropolitan Correctional Center may have bungled its responsibility to keep him alive. Guards often work overtime day after day, and other employees are pressed into service as correctional officers. Falsification of records has been a problem throughout the federal prison system. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who was named director of the Bureau of Prisons after Epstein’s death, disclosed in a Nov. 4 internal memo that a review of operations across the agency found some staff members failed to perform required rounds and inmate counts but logged that they had done so anyway. “Falsification of information in government systems and documents is also a violation of policy, and may be subject to criminal prosecution as well,” Hawk Sawyer wrote in the memo to top prison officials, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.