Jeffrey Epstein Suicide: Two Jail Workers Arrested
By
William K. Rashbaum and
Michael Gold
Nov. 19, 2019, 8:46 a.m. ET
Two federal workers who were on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail were taken into custody early Tuesday on federal charges related to their alleged failure to check on him, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The two federal Bureau of Prisons employees were expected to be charged later in the morning and appear in United States District Court in Manhattan.
The charges would be the first to arise from a criminal inquiry into the death of Mr. Epstein, who
hanged himself at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial
on sex-trafficking charges.
The workers came under scrutiny shortly after Mr. Epstein’s death, because they were responsible for monitoring the high-security unit where Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who had previously been convicted of sex crimes, was being held.
Rather than checking on Mr. Epstein every half-hour as they were supposed to,
the workers fell asleep for hours and falsified records to cover up what they had done, according to several officials with knowledge of the matter.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Guards not accepting plea deal.
