Posted on 08/14/2019 6:57:31 AM PDT by Red Badger
The two prison guards in charge of monitoring convicted pedophile and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on the morning that he committed suicide reportedly "fell asleep," did not check on him for hours, and then falsified prison records to hide their actions. Current Time 0:04 Duration 0:47 Report: Jeffrey Epstein Commits Suicide
The new developments in the investigation into Epstein's suicide come after the Justice Department announced on Tuesday that the two guards had been placed on administrative leave and the warden of the prison was being temporarily reassigned.
"The two correctional officers in the special housing unit where Mr. Epstein was held — 9 South — falsely recorded in a log that they had checked on the financier, who was facing sex trafficking charges, every 30 minutes, as was required," The New York Times reported Tuesday night, citing a law enforcement official and a prison official. "Such false entries in an official log could constitute a federal crime."
The Times noted that the two guards were reportedly asleep for three hours, during which time Epstein committed suicide.
"Today, the Attorney General directed the Bureau of Prisons to temporarily assign the warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York to the Bureau's Northeast Regional Office pending the outcome of the FBI and OIG investigations into the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, a former MCC inmate," DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec said early on Tuesday. "FCI Otisville Warden James Petrucci has been named Acting Warden of the MCC New York. The Bureau of Prisons also placed on administrative leave two MCC staff assigned to Mr. Epstein's unit pending the outcome of the investigations. Additional actions may be taken as the circumstances warrant."
Epstein reportedly tried to commit suicide on July 23, was placed on suicide watch, and was then removed from suicide watch six days later on July 29. Epstein was then moved into a cell with another inmate who was transferred out of the cell — leaving Epstein alone — hours before Epstein committed suicide on Saturday morning.
The Associated Press reported that the federal Bureau of Prisons sent a suicide reconstruction team to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to "reconstruct the scene, analyze why Epstein took his own life and look at how it happened."
A source told the AP that "Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen is being briefed by the FBI every three hours" on updates from the investigation into Epstein's suicide.
The New York Post reported on Monday that Epstein "apparently killed himself by kneeling toward the floor and strangling himself with the makeshift noose, a law enforcement source said Monday," adding that he "was 'unresponsive' when he was discovered in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday."
Republican Senator Ben Sasse (NE) urged Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday to "rip up" a 2008 non-prosecution agreement involving Epstein which protected alleged co-conspirators in the case.
"Too many of Epstein's secrets have gone to the grave with him, and the Department must not allow his death to be one last sweetheart deal for his co-conspirators, Sasse wrote in a letter to Barr. "The victims of Epstein's international sex trafficking ring deserve justice. In order to bring Epstein's co-conspirators to justice, the Department of Justice should rip up the non-prosecution, non-investigation agreement entered into by Epstein and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in 2008."
"As documented in reporting by The Miami Herald, despite preparing a 53-page indictment, federal prosecutors instead entered into an agreement with Epstein that offered immunity to him, four named co-conspirators, and 'any potential co-conspirators' from federal charges, with Epstein agreeing to plead guilty to state charges that gave him a slap-on-the-wrist sentence that went largely unenforced," Sasse continued. "This deal 'essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other powerful people who took part in Epstein's sex crimes.'"
"These problems run far beyond those identified by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which ruled that federal prosecutors violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act by hiding the terms of the deal from the women and girls that Epstein raped and exploited until after it was entered," Sasse added. "The idea that wealth and connections can buy injustice — the only plausible explanation for such pathetically soft terms for a serial child rapist at the heart of a massive international criminal enterprise — is wholly and completely inconsistent with the basic notions of fairness and equality that undergird the rule of law enshrined in our Constitution. Moreover, the notion that one individual’s plea could shield a whole class of potential co-conspirators of uncertain size and identity from legal liability would — if treated as enforceable — pioneer a new model for one fall guy to shield all other members of a criminal enterprise from accountability to the law."
Following Epstein's death, Attorney General William Barr released the following statement: "I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody. Mr. Epstein's death raises serious questions that must be answered. In addition to the FBI's investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death."
The Daily Mail reported on Monday that FBI agents raided Epstein's home in the Virgin Islands, referred to as "pedophile island" where "allegations have been made that underage girls were used as sex slaves and repeatedly abused inside a temple on the island."
One of the most alarming developments in the case was reported by The Intercept in July, shortly after Epstein was arrested and charged with running a sex trafficking ring that involved luring underage girls.
"Epstein shipped a shredder from the U.S. Virgin Islands to his Palm Beach home in July 2008, shortly after reaching a non-prosecution agreement with then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, maritime records show," The Intercept reported. "Then, in March of this year, shortly after a Florida federal judge invalidated that agreement, Epstein shipped a tile and carpet extractor from the Virgin Islands to his Manhattan townhouse, the records show."
That’s why the guards haven’t been named.
Notice nobody is talked about Mueller or his report anymore!!!!!!
“Mistakes were made......”
Mistakes happen.
I find it difficult to believe that in NYC, there are HIGH PAYING FEDERAL JOBS going unfilled where there is a UNION involved...................
“We are just so understaffed, they force us to make 150k in overtime because we are so terribly understaffed!” I’m not saying that is what is happening there, but it wouldn’t shock me. It could be that they are poorly paid, understaffed and over worked. But yeah I guess I would find that surprising at a high profile NYC fed union facility.
Freegards
Apparently there is a ‘hiring freeze’:
My view of the staffing based on information from the 90s.
The highest paid Correctional Officers in the country are Cal and NY. And they have strong unions. I would think they have vacancies at this BOP federal jail. I am not excusing their not visually supervising the high risk, high profile inmate, as I have said on numerous threads.
It is probably easier for the city and state to hire people in jails and prisons in NY than the BOP. IIRTC BOP pays less that NY and Cal pay the state officers and the deputies get in the jails. Just a side bar.
That being said, when I was a young officer, I wanted vacancies. That’s how I bought a house and had new cars in the garage, and my wife stayed home till my youngest went to pre-school.
When i became a manager, my take-home went down because of no overtime.
About the guards...
NY Times “One of the staff members was a former correctional officer who had taken a different position at the detention center that did not involve guarding detainees. He had volunteered to work again as a correctional officer for the extra overtime pay, a law enforcement official and an employee at the jail said.
The second officer, a woman who was assigned to that wing, had been ordered to work overtime because the jail was short staffed.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-jail-officers.html
NBC “According to two officials familiar with the MCC, the wing where Epstein was housed was properly staffed the night of his apparent suicide. One of the correction officers on duty at the time had recently taken a promotion to an administrative position, but was fully trained and had been a guard for seven years.”
SLATE “The two employees—one man and one woman, both working overtime because the jail was short-staffed—”
Right. It could very well be that they are all underpaid, overworked and understaffed due to the hiring freeze. I would still simply like to know how much this NYC fed prison pays in wages and how much it pays in overtime.
FReegards
Just read that. So the real corrections officer was a woman. Makes sense. Women shriek. Men don’t shriek.
Just read that. So the real corrections officer was a woman. Makes sense. Women shriek. Men don’t shriek.
Unionized workers.
Wow, thanks!
Freegards
Since Epstein is white, black prison administration has no obligation to do anything to keep him alive. Only Black Lives Matter and then only if there is some reward.
Africanization of the jail killed Epstein
It is easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission:
Not: Jeffery Epstein knows far too much about the rich and powerful (us); may we off him?
But: Jeffrey Epstein got offed, and we are going to make sure that it does not happen again.
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