MCC Guard Duty Logs - Night of August 9-10, 2019
From: Metropolitan Correctional CenterTo: DOJ Inspector General / FBI
Guard LogsFailuresAugust 10
MCC GUARD DUTY LOGS — AUGUST 9-10, 2019
Officers on Duty: Tova Noel and Michael Thomas
Assignment: Special Housing Unit (SHU), 9 South
REQUIRED PROTOCOL:
- 30-minute rounds required for all SHU inmates
- Visual verification of inmate wellness at each check
- Log entries documenting each round
ACTUAL CONDUCT (per investigation):
- Guards failed to perform ANY of the required 30-minute checks
- Both officers fell asleep during their shift
- False log entries were made documenting rounds that never occurred
- Officers were browsing internet and napping during duty hours
- Approximately 8 hours passed without any check on Epstein
DISCOVERY:
- At approximately 6:30 AM on August 10, 2019, Epstein was found unresponsive
- Life-saving measures attempted but unsuccessful
- Pronounced dead at hospital
CRIMINAL CHARGES:
- Both guards charged with conspiracy and filing false records
- Charges later resolved through deferred prosecution agreement
- Guards required to complete community service
- Neither served prison time
Source: DOJ IG / Court records
Available at: https://www.justice.gov/epstein
Part of a Curated Collection
The Epstein Case in 2019
The year 2019 was the most consequential in the Epstein case. In July, Epstein was arrested by the FBI on federal sex trafficking charges in the Southern District of New York. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, in a death ruled a suicide by the medical examiner but disputed by independent pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. The documents from 2019 are among the most extensive in the archive, including the indictment, bail hearing transcripts, autopsy reports, Bureau of Prisons records, and the beginning of the Maxwell investigation.
All 2019 documents in the timeline →