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.

USCIS halts ‘all asylum decisions’ after DC shooting of National Guard members

Abbey Gate Gold Star father blisters Biden after Afghan national allegedly ambushes 2 National Guardsmen in DC

Utah death row inmate with dementia dies of natural causes 3 months after execution was halted

At least two reported victims with gunshot wounds at Valley Fair Mall in California on Black Friday: police

State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack

Trump plans ‘full and complete pardon’ for former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking

A look back at the biggest presidential Thanksgiving scandals, surprises

Erika Kirk Shares First Thanksgiving Message Since Her Husband’s Passing

Political turkeys of 2025: Blunders of 2025 that will never be pardoned by the public

USA Today’s Spin on National Guard Shooting Shows Why Legacy Outlets Are Dying

Where the Trump admin’s court fight over National Guard in DC stands in wake of shooting

House Republican Calls for Full Pause on ALL Immigration After D.C. Attack: ‘Deport Every Non-Citizen’

NYC Council is Considering a Massive Pay Bump For Mamdani Before He Even Takes Office

Slotkin goes silent when pressed on past Trump guard ‘shooting’ claims after DC attack

In-store Black Friday crowds underwhelm as online shopping surges

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.