Two employees have been arrested for failing to check on Jeffrey Epstein while he was detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
Epstein, 66, was arrested in connection to a sex-trafficking ring and was being held in the New York City prison when he committed suicide in August, according to the city’s chief medical examiner.
The financier was being held in a high-security unit after one failed suicide attempt a few weeks prior to his death. The guards were supposed to keep Epstein under watch to prevent any self-harm before his trial. The two were required to check on Epstein every 30 minutes, but they were accused of falling asleep instead and falsifying the records of their watch.
The two guards were arrested early Tuesday morning and will be charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
Epstein’s death has led to scrutiny for the Bureau of Prisons as the financier died with information that could have brought down others associated with his sex trafficking operation. Theories that Epstein’s death was not a suicide have been refuted by the city’s medical examiner, who confirmed he died by hanging.
The arrests come after reports that the guards turned down a plea deal from the Department of Justice over the weekend.
UPDATE: The two guards were identified as Tova Noel and Michael Thomas. Noel had worked for the Metropolitan Correctional Center since 2016 but had only worked in the secure housing unit where Epstein was detained since August 2019. Thomas had worked in the prison since 2007, but unlike Noel, Thomas had worked in the secure housing unit since 2013.
Both Noel and Thomas were working overtime shifts the night Epstein died. Thomas had also been on duty the night of Epstein’s first suicide attempt.
They were both charged with five counts of falsifying records and one count of conspiracy.
