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.

Evacuation Ordered After Canadian-Owned Gas Pipeline Springs Major Leak in US

Former NBA Star Posts Shocking, Manic Videos Asking His Coach for ‘Help’

NFL owner’s prostitution arrest puts top Dem committee on defense: ‘So desperate for cash’

Former Texas high school teacher arrested after probe into inappropriate student relationship

Jelly Roll Doubles Down, Tells Trump Supporters to Stop Listening to His Music

Judge clears path for ICE agent accused in Minnesota shooting case to leave Texas jail

Watch: UK Royal Family Stages Incredible Tribute to Dolly Parton at Buckingham Palace

America’s heartland comes face-to-face with 9/11 history as 25th anniversary nears

Democrat officials charged for allegedly scamming COVID relief funds

Trump scores federal court win against House progressive accused of assaulting ICE

Dem Candidate, Music Superstar With Sick Sexual History Defended Fellow Musician’s Video In Which He Gropes and Kills Woman

Breaking: ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Star Tim Curry Dies at 80

Netanyahu claims his son was targeted for assassination by Iran

Felony charges against Golden Gate Bridge protesters dropped

How JD Vance worked a private channel with his fantasy football buddy to try to secure a Canada trade deal

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.