US News Federal prison guards in custody in connection with Jeffrey Epstein death

WASHINGTON–Two federal prison staffers were in custody Tuesday in New York and are expected to face charges related to their alleged failure to conduct regular checks on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein before he hung himself inside his Manhattan cell, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. 

Epstein's sudden death triggered a wave of recriminations from his many victims who had anticipated his trial on sex trafficking and related conspiracy charges.

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One of the two people guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he apparently hanged himself in a federal jail cell was not a full-fledged correctional officer, and neither guard had checked on Mr. Epstein for several hours before he was discovered, prison and law-enforcement officials said.

Jeffrey Epstein served with more legal papers while held in prison . Epstein , who was awaiting trial on federal No foul play is suspected in his death , a federal official told CNN. The bureau's release called it "an apparent In custody for weeks. Epstein had been jailed since early July, when he

© AP Jeffrey Epstein It also prompted a leadership shakeup at the federal Bureau of Prisons. Attorney General William Barr ordered multiple investigations into the 66-year-old's suicide, focusing on the operations at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan where Epstein was being held in federal custody.

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who Barr appointed to take over the agency, was expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the matter.  

Prosecutors alleged that Epstein "sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls" at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, and at other locations from at least 2002 to 2005. 

Jeffrey Epstein Suicide: Two Jail Workers Arrested

Two federal workers who were on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail were expected to be taken into custody on Tuesday morning 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.

Despite Epstein ’s death , the sex trafficking investigation being carried out by federal authorities, will continue reports said. In a court filing on July 25, the government said it was pursuing an “ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals” in connection with the case against Epstein .

Guards at the jail where Jeffrey Epstein was found dead did not conduct required checks on prisoners overnight, according to a report. Epstein died of a suspected suicide after being found unresponsive in his Manhattan Correctional Center cell where he was being held on sex trafficking

Before New York's chief medical examiner concluded that Epstein had hanged himself with a bed sheet, the disgraced financier's sudden death was shadowed by conspiracy theories, some suggesting he had been murdered.

© Reuters The Metropolitan Correctional Center jail where financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead For months, federal authorities have examined whether the staffers assigned to Epstein's unit slept through mandatory  checks on his cell in the hours before he was found dead, and whether the guards falsified logs accounting for their time on duty. 

Prison union representatives have long warned that staff shortages and frequent overtime shifts have taken their toll on officers and compromised security at the Manhattan facility.

© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen attend Medal of Valor ceremony Wednesday, May 22, 2019. At the time of Epstein's suicide, there were more than 30 staff vacancies at the facility, said Serene Gregg, local president of the prison workers' union. Prison officials regularly assigned civilian staffers to work guard duty in order to plug unfilled officer positions, she said.

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Jeffrey Edward Epstein (/ˈɛpstiːn/ EP-steen; January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American financier and convicted sex offender.

Mr. Epstein was supposed to have been checked by the two guards in the protective housing unit every 30 minutes, but that procedure was The federal Bureau of Prisons has already come under intense criticism for not keeping Mr. Epstein under a suicide watch after he had been found in his cell

Ten of the 18 staffers who reported for duty on the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift–the one on which Epstein was found dead–were working overtime, according to federal prison records. On the previous shift, 4 p.m. to midnight, six of the 20 staffers were working overtime.

Barr reassigned the warden at the New York detention center, and prison officials placed two staffers on administrative leave. One of those staffers had worked multiple overtime shifts before reporting to duty on Epstein's unit.

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Just three weeks before he died, Epstein had been found in his jail cell, semiconscious with bruises on his neck. That prompted authorities to put him on suicide watch. He was removed from suicide monitoring just days later, which also has drawn investigative interest. 

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The federal prison guards tasked with watching Jeffrey Epstein at the time of the billionaire's death are about to face the consequences for their alleged Instead of checking on Epstein every 30 minutes as required, the New York Times reported in August, the two guards left Epstein completely

The prison guards watching over Jeffrey Epstein were reportedly working extreme overtime shifts on the morning of his death . Epstein should have been checked on by guards in his cell every 30 minutes, but that didn't happen the night before his apparent suicide, a law enforcement official told

“When removing such a high-risk individual from suicide watch, it would be critical to do it in a step-down fashion so that there is still some extra monitoring," said Lisa Boesky, a clinical psychologist and jail suicide expert from San Diego, California. 

Boesky said Epstein was still "a high risk for suicide" because of the nature of his crimes, the humiliation he experienced after his arrest and his recent suicide attempt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal prison guards in custody in connection with Jeffrey Epstein death