NEW YORK (AP) — Two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself were charged Tuesday with falsifying prison records.
A grand jury indictment made public Tuesday accused guards Toval Noel and Michael Thomas of neglecting their duties by failing to perform checks on Epstein every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had.
The charges against the officers are the first in connection with the wealthy financier’s death in August at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
A message left with union officials representing the guards wasn’t immediately returned.
What? Toronto’s Foreign-Born Mayor Warns ICE to Stay Out of City – Where It Has No Authority
Watch: ICE Agents Working at Airport Give Whining Leftist the Exact Response He Deserves
Gas thief creeps into learning center, drains van serving students with disabilities
Jeffries declines to break with indicted Democrat after ethics panel’s guilty verdict
Southwest pilot aborts Hollywood Burbank landing because runway ‘wasn’t quite clear’: report
Hegseth Slashes ‘Faith Codes’ in Move to Make Chaplains the Spiritual Backbone of the US Military
Education Department Abandons Headquarters as Agency Heads for Total Extinction
Trans Tide Is Turning: Idaho Criminalizes Trans Use of Incorrect Bathrooms in Private Businesses
JD Vance says he was ‘obsessed’ with UFOs, believes aliens are actually ‘demons’
Notice Anything With NBC’s Headline About Dem Rep Getting Found Guilty By House Ethics Committee?
Not Only Is Radical, Senile Maxine Waters Refusing to Retire at 87, She Could Chair Powerful Committee Come Next January
Netflix Hikes Prices for Second Time in Just Over a Year
NASA races to build moon base as US challenges China in new space race
Soros-backed group among liberal orgs pumping eye-popping cash into Virginia gerrymandering effort
Scouting America moves to shed ‘woke’ label with major recommitment to military, traditional American values
Epstein’s death while awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused underage girls was a major embarrassment for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The cell where he died was in a high-security unit, famous for having held terrorists and drug cartel kingpins. Epstein’s death, though, revealed the jail was suffering from problems including chronic staffing shortages that lead to mandatory overtime for guards day after day and other staff being pressed into service as correctional officers.
Attorney General William Barr has said investigators found “serious irregularities” at the jail and the FBI’s investigation had been slowed because some witnesses were uncooperative.
Epstein had been placed on suicide watch after he was found July 23 on the floor of his cell with a bruised neck. Multiple people familiar with operations at the jail say Epstein was taken off the watch after about a week, meaning he was less closely monitored but still supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.
What? Toronto’s Foreign-Born Mayor Warns ICE to Stay Out of City – Where It Has No Authority
Watch: ICE Agents Working at Airport Give Whining Leftist the Exact Response He Deserves
Gas thief creeps into learning center, drains van serving students with disabilities
Jeffries declines to break with indicted Democrat after ethics panel’s guilty verdict
Southwest pilot aborts Hollywood Burbank landing because runway ‘wasn’t quite clear’: report
Hegseth Slashes ‘Faith Codes’ in Move to Make Chaplains the Spiritual Backbone of the US Military
Education Department Abandons Headquarters as Agency Heads for Total Extinction
Trans Tide Is Turning: Idaho Criminalizes Trans Use of Incorrect Bathrooms in Private Businesses
JD Vance says he was ‘obsessed’ with UFOs, believes aliens are actually ‘demons’
Notice Anything With NBC’s Headline About Dem Rep Getting Found Guilty By House Ethics Committee?
Not Only Is Radical, Senile Maxine Waters Refusing to Retire at 87, She Could Chair Powerful Committee Come Next January
Netflix Hikes Prices for Second Time in Just Over a Year
NASA races to build moon base as US challenges China in new space race
Soros-backed group among liberal orgs pumping eye-popping cash into Virginia gerrymandering effort
Scouting America moves to shed ‘woke’ label with major recommitment to military, traditional American values
Investigators believe those checks weren’t done for several hours before Epstein was discovered in his cell with a bedsheet around his neck, another person familiar with the matter told AP. That person likewise spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.
Prosecutors had wanted the guards to admit they falsified the prison records as part of a plea offer that they rejected, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.
Federal prosecutors had subpoenaed up to 20 staff members at the jail in August. The case was a top priority for the Justice Department. Both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen received regular updates.
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 an internal memo earlier this month 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. A copy of the memo was obtained by the AP.
What? Toronto’s Foreign-Born Mayor Warns ICE to Stay Out of City – Where It Has No Authority
Watch: ICE Agents Working at Airport Give Whining Leftist the Exact Response He Deserves
Gas thief creeps into learning center, drains van serving students with disabilities
Jeffries declines to break with indicted Democrat after ethics panel’s guilty verdict
Southwest pilot aborts Hollywood Burbank landing because runway ‘wasn’t quite clear’: report
Hegseth Slashes ‘Faith Codes’ in Move to Make Chaplains the Spiritual Backbone of the US Military
Education Department Abandons Headquarters as Agency Heads for Total Extinction
Trans Tide Is Turning: Idaho Criminalizes Trans Use of Incorrect Bathrooms in Private Businesses
JD Vance says he was ‘obsessed’ with UFOs, believes aliens are actually ‘demons’
Notice Anything With NBC’s Headline About Dem Rep Getting Found Guilty By House Ethics Committee?
Not Only Is Radical, Senile Maxine Waters Refusing to Retire at 87, She Could Chair Powerful Committee Come Next January
Netflix Hikes Prices for Second Time in Just Over a Year
NASA races to build moon base as US challenges China in new space race
Soros-backed group among liberal orgs pumping eye-popping cash into Virginia gerrymandering effort
Scouting America moves to shed ‘woke’ label with major recommitment to military, traditional American values
Epstein’s death ended the possibility of a trial that would have involved prominent figures and sparked widespread anger that he wouldn’t have to answer for the allegations.
He had pleaded not guilty and was preparing to argue that he could not be charged because of a 2008 deal he made to avoid federal prosecution on similar allegations.
Epstein’s death prompted a whirl of conspiracy theories from people, including members of Epstein’s family and some of his alleged victims, who questioned whether it was possible that he’d killed himself in such a high-security setting.
Story cited here.
