In latest Epstein deal, officers who slept while financier died plead guilty, avert trial

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Julie K. Brown
·5 min read
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Two federal prison officers facing felony charges of falsifying reports and sleeping on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York cell have agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in exchange for leniency.

The officers, Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, appeared via video conference in federal court in New York Tuesday to enter their pleas, sparing them a high-profile trial — one that could have revealed more to the public about what happened to Epstein.

As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, both officers pleaded guilty to falsifying records and conspiracy to defraud the United States. They were given six months supervisory release and will have to perform 100 hours of community service. They have also agreed to be interviewed by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, which is investigating Epstein’s death.

Upon successful completion of the terms, all criminal charges will be dropped against them.

Epstein, a politically connected money manager who lived in Manhattan, Palm Beach and the U.S. Virgin Islands, was arrested July 6, 2019, on sex trafficking charges involving minors. The 66-year-old’s body was found one month later, reportedly hanging by bed sheets tied to his upper bunk at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan. The New York City medical examiner ruled that his death was a suicide.

Epstein’s brother, Mark, Epstein’s lawyers and a noted forensic pathologist present at the autopsy say that the evidence doesn’t support the finding that Epstein killed himself, and the secrecy so far surrounding Epstein’s death has led to many conspiracy theories.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant FBI counterintelligence officer, said ending the criminal case against the corrections officers raises the possibility, at least theoretically, that they have information that will help the government’s probe.

“Perhaps, for example, they were approached by an intermediary who offered them something to look the other way so he could harm himself. That would not surprise me.”

Figliuzzi was speculating and has no inside information on the case.

Figliuzzi, who worked on federal prison corruption cases and now has a podcast about the FBI, said few people know how the prison subculture works — other than inmates and corrections officers.

“This is a rare opportunity to leverage cooperation and that may be what’s going on here. By getting corrections officers to cooperate, you can access a treasure trove of how that institution is run and whether there is any possible corruption,” he said.

Defense attorneys had argued that the officers, who had been on multiple overtime shifts, were being used as scapegoats for the failures of the federal prison system — and that it was those collective failures that contributed to Epstein’s August 10, 2019, death.

On the day before Epstein’s body was discovered, more than 2,000 pages of court documents were unsealed, revealing that one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, had provided sworn testimony in a 2016 court case that Epstein had sex with scores of girls. He also directed her to have sex with a number of prominent figures in politics, finance, science, academics and philanthropy, according to what she told authorities.

All of the men have denied her allegations.

Epstein, who had been on suicide watch a week before, was in a special protective housing unit where staff was required to check on him every half hour. For reasons still unexplained, his cellmate was transferred out to another prison the night before, leaving Epstein alone, which was against prison policy.

The two officers on duty, Thomas and Noel, admitted that they were napping on and off between browsing the internet before discovering his body the following morning. They then lied on their official reports.

In their indictments, federal prosecutors said video of the floor on the night of Epstein’s death showed that no one entered the tier where Epstein was being held after 10:30 p.m.

It’s not clear whether the inspector general investigation, when concluded, will be made public.

Epstein was first investigated on sex charges in Palm Beach in 2006. A multimillionaire whose exact source of wealth remains a mystery, Epstein cultivated relationships with powerful people, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and a litany of celebrities, CEOs and scientists.

In 2008, he received an unprecedented deal that allowed him to plead guilty in state court to prostitution charges. Under a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, negotiated by then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, Epstein received immunity from more serious charges, despite evidence that he sexually abused dozens of girls at his Palm Beach mansion.

The agreement was sealed, so that no one, including his victims, would learn about the resolution. Victims successfully fought to get it unsealed, which happened a year later

Federal authorities in New York opened another criminal case against Epstein following a November 2018 Miami Herald series that detailed how South Florida prosecutors ignored the scope of Epstein’s crimes and allowed Epstein’s lawyers to manipulate the negotiation process so that their client ultimately spent little time behind bars.

Epstein’s death did not end the federal probe into his sex trafficking operation, however.

In July 2020, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, was arrested on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors allege that she participated in Epstein’s sex crimes by recruiting girls for Epstein to assault. She is also charged with sexually abusing at least one underage victim.

She is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Her trial is set for November.

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