NEW YORK (AP) - The latest on charges against two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself (all times local):
4 p.m.
Two jail guards charged with falsifying prison records the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself have pleaded not guilty.
A grand jury indictment made public Tuesday accused guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas of failing to perform checks on Epstein every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had.
Noel and Thomas will both be released on $100,000 bond.
A lawyer for Thomas, Montell Figgins, said earlier Tuesday both guards are being “scapegoated.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell in August as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
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1:45 p.m.
Federal prosecutors say security camera footage proves Jeffrey Epstein was alone in his cell the night he killed himself.
The 66-year-old financier’s death in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges prompted conspiracy theories from people who don’t accept the official ruling that the death was a suicide.
Prosecutors said Tuesday in announcing a case against two guards accused of falsifying records that video surveillance shows no one entered the area in which Epstein was housed.
The pathologist hired by Epstein’s family to investigate his death says he’s still not convinced.
Dr. Michael Baden says he wants to know more from guards about the position of Epstein’s body when he was found.
Bureau of Prisons Director Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer says there is “no evidence to suggest” anything other than suicide.
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12 p.m.
A lawyer for one of the correctional officers charged with falsifying prison records the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself says both guards are being made scapegoats.
Montell Figgins is a lawyer for Michael Thomas. He said Tuesday that there’s been a “rush to judgment” and that federal authorities are going after “the low man on the totem pole.”
He says his client will plead not guilty.
Epstein was found dead in his cell in August as he awaited trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls.
New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
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11:20 a.m.
Two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself have been charged with falsifying prison records.
A grand jury indictment made public Tuesday accused guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas of failing to perform checks on Epstein every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had.
Epstein was found dead in his cell in August as he awaited trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls.
New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
A message left with union officials representing the guards wasn’t immediately returned.
The Associated Press reported Friday that the officers were offered a plea deal by prosecutors, but declined to take it.
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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the name of one of the accused guards. She is Tova Noel, not Toval Noel.
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