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.

Letitia James Hit with 52-Count ‘Indictment’ from Her Republican Opponent

Arizona man arrested after allegedly emailing White House bomb threat to Tucson news station

Bombshell: New Text from Cornell Rape Accuser Contains 4 Case-Killing Words – ‘Our Body Our Choice’ – Media Omits Them All

Logan Federico’s dad says criminals have become ‘more important’ than victims, pushes repeat offender registry

Pentagon confirms Fort Hood terrorist’s firing squad execution will be livestreamed: ‘Details will follow’

Dem who ripped rival’s donor-fueled ‘good life’ dropped campaign cash on Disney, spouse travel

NFL Legend Tony Dungy Says His Christian Faith Played a Role in His Firing from NBC: ‘They Knew Who I Was’

Roseanne Barr Roars Back from Cancellation by Secretly Filming Star-Studded Sitcom

Trump calls Democrat he pardoned a ‘loser’ for not switching parties

FIRST ON FOX: FBI targets Ghana scam compound linked to nearly $10M in losses, more than 130 detained

El-Sayed’s scathing Obama critique resurfaces ahead of joint campaign rally

Marine Corps Osprey catches fire during exercise in North Carolina; 4 injured

Rubio criticizes media for demanding comment on Guilfoyle report: ‘It’s not the gospel’

‘Demon,’ ‘Bigot,’ ‘Satan Spawn’: Duchess Meghan’s Fans Rabidly Attack Priest for Offering up $8 Version of Her $150 Advent Calendar

‘Cornell 7’ Figure Fights Back Against ‘Improper’ Appointment of Letitia James with Court Move

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.