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.

New Netflix Kids Movie Slammed as ‘One of the Most Satanic Inversions’

GOP lawmakers smell something else behind Big Tech’s AI doomsday warnings: ‘Something else going on’

‘As a Lifelong Democrat, I Am Ashamed’: Mom Blasts Her Party After Illegal Kills Her Son and His New Bride

Young swing-state voters cozy up to Democratic Socialists, say party establishment must ‘learn’ from DSA wins

European Leaders in Panic Mode Over Pete Hegseth’s Military Plans for the Region: Report

DEI Dies at Starbucks, but Not Before They Have to Pay Big Fine for Discrimination by Race, Sex in Florida

Ex-Dem insider reveals why Biden’s daughter threatened to sue her: ‘Bordered on parody’

Flock CEO, tech rivals called to testify before senators over AI camera privacy concerns

Federal judges reveal private coordination behind Trump immigration cases and more top headlines

Watch: Jelly Roll 2.0 – Blue Collar Comedy Legend Ron White Attacks TX Republicans – This After Trashing Trump Online

Watch: Teary Dem in Squad Car Asks God to Deliver Her from DUI Arrest – Apparently Doesn’t Know Her Party Officially Booted God in 2012

Congress is vulnerable to a paralyzing terrorist attack

Judge Judy warns of ‘danger’ if prosecutors don’t retry Lindsay Clancy after murder trial ends in mistrial

‘Unprecedented’: Judges reveal behind-the-scenes coordination on Trump immigration cases

Apple TV’s thriller ‘Last Seen’ is worth seeing

See also Barry Melrose, 1956-2026

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.