As Jeffrey Epstein Died, Guards Allegedly Shopped Online And Slept

NEW YORK — Two jail guards responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself were charged Tuesday with falsifying prison records to conceal they were sleeping and browsing the internet during the hours they were supposed to be keeping a close watch on prisoners. Guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were accused in a grand jury indictment of neglecting their duties by failing to check on Epstein for nearly eight hours, and of fabricating log entries to show they had been making checks every 30 minutes, as required. The charges against the officers in connection with the wealthy financier’s death in August provide a damning glimpse of security lapses inside a high-security unit at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where Epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The indictment also contained new details reinforcing the idea that for all the intrigue regarding Epstein and his connections to powerful people, his death was a suicide, possibly preventable if the people guarding him had been doing their jobs. “The defendants had a duty to ensure the safety and security of federal inmates in their care at the Metropolitan Correctional Center,” U.S.