Two Manhattan, New York jail guards are set to face trial in June for allegedly falsifying records after the billionaire and alleged pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in his cell last year.
Tova Noel, 31, and Michael Thomas, 41, were on duty the night Epstein died and were responsible for conducting mandatory checks on the 66-year-old financier. Epstein was in jail awaiting trial on multiple rape and sex trafficking charges.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres denied an application from the defendants to put off their trial until October, cementing the trial date for June 22, according to the Daily Beast. Prosecutors had argued to keep the original trial date set earlier for April.
Noel and Thomas allegedly failed to check on Epstein at regular intervals throughout the night of Aug. 9 and later tried to falsify records to show that they had made their rounds. Noel is charged with five counts of falsifying records, and Noel is charged with three counts of the same crime. Each charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Attorneys for Noel and Thomas plan argue that poor working conditions at the New York City Metropolitan Correctional Center led to mistakes and that numerous other jail staff have done what Noel and Thomas are accused of without consequence. Noel and Thomas have said that staffing shortages have forced guards to work up to 18-hour shifts.
Epstein was found dead in his cell on the morning of Aug. 10. The NYC medical examiner ruled his death a suicide by hanging.
Epstein had allegedly trafficked and sexually exploited dozens of girls at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.
