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The OIG Report Into Jeffrey Epstein's Death: Conclusions And Recommendations (Chapter 7) (Part 3) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
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  In this episode, we're going to pick back up with
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  the OIG report, and to do that, we're going to
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  look at Part B of chapter seven, So let's dive
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  right back. In Part B, mcc new York staff failed
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  to conduct mandatory rounds and inmate counts, resulting in Epstein
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  being unobserved for hours before his death. The OIG's investigation
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  and review revealed that on August ninth and tenth, twenty nineteen,
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  mcc new York Shoe staff did not conduct the mandatory
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  rounds and inmate counts during their shift in the shoe.
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  The failure to undertake these required measures to account for
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  inmate whereabouts and well being, and the supervisor's failure to
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  properly supervise the shoe staff as discussed further below, resulted
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  in Epstein being unobserved for hours before his death, which
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  compounded the failure of mcc new York staff to ensure
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  that Epstein had an appropriate cellmate one failure to conduct
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  rounds and inmate counts in the shoe. Federal regulations require
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  that employees use official time in an honest effort to
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  perform official duties. Additionally, BOP standards of conduct required that
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  employees conduct themselves in a manner that fosters respect for
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  the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, and the
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  US government, because in attention to duty in a correctional
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  environment can result in escapes, assaults, and other incidents. BOP
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  standards of conduct also require employees to remain fully alert
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  and attentive during duty hours. BOP policy also requires continuous
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  inmate accountability, which is accomplished through rounds and inmate counts,
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  among other things. Rounds and inmate counts enable staff to
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  observe inmates and ensure that they are safe and secure
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  in their cells and are in good health. BOP policy
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  and mcc New York Shoe post orders set out their
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  requirements for these inmate accountability measures, specifying that correctional staff
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  must conduct rounds on an irregular schedule at least twice
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  each hour, no more than forty minutes apart. BOP policy
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  and mcc new York Shoe post orders further specify that
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  at least two mcc New York Shoe staff members must
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  conduct inmate counts at twelve am, three am, five am,
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  four pm, and ten pm daily and also at ten
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  am on weekends and federal holidays. The OIG's investigation and
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  review revealed that an inmate, Inmate four, was internally transferred
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  from the shoe to receiving and discharge at approximately three
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  fifteen PM on August ninth, twenty nineteen. However, this inmate
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  transfer was not documented until approximately twelve thirty five am
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  on August tenth, twenty nineteen. Based on this internal transfer,
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  BOP records and witness statements, the OIG determined that the
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  four PM and ten PM Shoe inmate counts on August
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  ninth were aerinis. In addition, the OIG reviewed the available
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  shoe security camera video, which did not show CEOs walking
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  up or down the stairs leading to the various shoe
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  tiers during the count times, a process that is necessary
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  to conduct an accurate count of inmates. During their OIG interviews,
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  the evening Watt Shoe Officer in charge, the material handler
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  co Tove Noel, and material handler Michael Thomas each admitted
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  that they did not conduct all of the mandatory rounds
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  and inmate counts in the shoe in the evening of
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  August ninth and in the morning of August tenth, Noel
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  told the OIG that she conducted the ten pm count
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  on August ninth. The OIG did not credit her statement
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  based on one its review of the shoe security camera video,
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  which reflects Noel walking up and down the stairs leading
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  to some but not all of the tiers several minutes
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  after the shoe inmate count had been called into the
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  control center. Two the ten PM councilate, which erroneously included
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  the shoe inmate four who had been internally transferred to
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  receiving and delivery, three other BOP records, and four the
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  material Handler's statements to the OIG that no one conducted
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  the ten pm count because everyone was tired, instead of
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  performing the required duties to account for inmate whereabouts and
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  well being. The OIG found that officers assigned to the
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  Shoe on August ninth and tenth, including the material Handler,
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  Noel and Thomas P, primarily remained seated in the shoe
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  officer's station, sometimes without moving for a period of time,
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  suggesting that they were asleep, and conducted a variety of
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  Internet searches on mcc New York computers. Thomas also admitted
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  to the OIG that he dozed off for periods of
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  time during his shift. The OIG's analysis of the shoe
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  security camera video revealed that after approximately ten forty pm,
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  no COO entered Epstein's tier in the shoe until just
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  before six thirty am, when Noel and Thomas began to
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  serve breakfast to the inmates. The OIG investigation and Review
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  concluded that the Evening Watched Shoe Officer in charge, the
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  material Handler, Noel and Thomas failed to conduct the mandatory
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  rounds and inmate counts during their respective shifts in the
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  MCC New York Shoe on August ninth and tenth, twenty nineteen,
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  and that their actions constituted violations of five CFR Section
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  two six three five dot one zero one B five
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  and two six three five dot seven zero five A
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  BOP Program Statements thirty four to twenty dot eleven and
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  fifty five hundred dot fourteen, and MCC New York Shoe
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  post Orders Section two, false statements and lack of candor.
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  The OIG's investigation and review found that on August ninth
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  and tenth, twenty nineteen, the Evening Watch Shoe Officer in charge,
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  the material Handler Noel and Thomas made false statements when
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  they falsified BOP records by attesting that they had completed
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  the mandatory rounds and inmate counts when in fact they
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  had not. Federal law provides that whoever, in any matter
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  within the jurisdiction of the Executive Branch of the Government
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  of the United States, knowingly and willfully makes or uses
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  any false writing or document, knowing the same to contain
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  any materially false, fictitious, or fraudilent statement or entry, has
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  violated eighteen US Code one zero zero, one A, and three.
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  As discussed above, the OIG found that the evening Watch
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  shoe officer in charge, the material handler Noel, and Thomas
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  failed to conduct all of the mandatory rounds and inmate
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  counts as part of each institutional inmate count. POP policy
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  and MCC new York shoe post orders require two CEOs
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  to conduct each count and memorialize the number of inmates
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  in the shoe on an official MCC New York form
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  often called the count slip. On the count slip, both
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  CEOs are required to fill in the date and time
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  the count had been performed, write the total number of
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  inmates physically present in the unit, counted and then sign
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  the count slip. Once the CEOs complete and signed the
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  count slips, the count slips are then collected and delivered
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  to the mcc New York Control Center. Officers assigned to
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  the Control Center are responsible for comparing the count slips
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  from each housing unit to the institution's overall inmate count
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  sheet to ensure that each inmate was accounted for. Only
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  after all the count slips have been collected from each
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  housing unit and the numbers on the count slips had
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  been matched to the institution's overall count sheet, could the
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  institutional count be deemed cleared or completed. The evening watch
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  shoe officer in charge the material handler, Noel and Thomas
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  each prepared and or signed a false count slip to
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  create the impression that they had fulfilled their inmate accountability responsibilities,
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  when in fact they had not. These individuals admitted to
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  the OIG that instead of performing their assigned duties, they
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  pre filled the count slips with a number of inmates
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  they believed were in the shoe based on what officers
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  from the previous shift had told them, and signed off
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  on the documents knowing that they were falsely attested to
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  having completed the counts. Additionally, Noel admitted to the OIG
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  that she had pre filled the official mcc New York
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  forms documenting the times of the thirty minute rounds often
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  referred to as round sheets, and falsely attested to having
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  completed the rounds. Noel and Thomas were indicted by a
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  grand jury for their false certification of having conducted rounds
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  and counts. Subsequently, each entered into a deferred prosecution agreement
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  with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
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  New York. The US Attorney's Office of the Southern District
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  of New York declined prosecution for the Evening watch Shoe
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  Officer in charge and the material Handler. The OIG investigation
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  has found that the Evening watch Shoe Officer in Charge,
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  the material Handler, Noel, and Nis Thomas knowingly and willingly
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  falsified BOP records in violation of federal law by attesting
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  that they had completed the mandatory rounds and inmate counts
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  on the evening of August ninth, twenty nineteen and the
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  morning of August tenth, twenty nineteen. Additionally, as noted above,
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  BOP policy requires employees to cooperate fully with an official
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  investigation and truthfully respond to questions. The OIG found that
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  Noel lacked candor when she told the OIG that she
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  had conducted the ten pm count when the weight of
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  evidence indicates that at most she may have conducted around
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  at that time. Section three poor judgment regarding the use
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  of overtime. The OIG's investigation and review revealed that on
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  August ninth, twenty nineteen, mcc New York supervisory staff requested
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  that a staff member fill an overtime position within the shoe,
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  which resulted in that staff member working three shifts back
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  to back, that is, twenty four hours straight. The collective
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  Bargaining Agreement between BP and unions representing BOP employees provides
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  that ordinarily the minimum time off between shifts will be
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  seven and one half hours and the minimum elapse time
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  of on days off will be fifty six hours, except
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  when the employee requests the change. The material handler told
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  the OIG that on August ninth, he reported for a
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  voluntary overtime shift from twelve am to eight am, and
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  then worked as regular eight am to four pm shift
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  in the warehouse. At some point during the day shift,
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  the day watch Operations Lieutenant. A higher ranking official called
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  and asked the material handler if he could work overtime
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  in the shoe, and he agreed. The material handler told
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  the OIG that he felt pressure to work the third show,
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  which resulted in him working twenty four hours straight from
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  twelve am on August ninth through twelve am on August tenth.
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  As discussed previously, the material handler admitted to the OIG
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  that on the evening of August ninth, during his third shift,
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  which he worked in the shoe, he did not conduct
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  the mandatory in made counts in rounds because he was
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  too tired. The OIG investigation review concluded the day Watch
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  Operations Lieutenant exercise poor judgment when he requested that the
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  material handler work a third consecutive shift. As the day
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  Watch Operations Lieutenant, he had access to the staff roster
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  and the schedule, and therefore he should have known that
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  the material handler had already worked sixteen straight hours. Additionally,
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  the day Watch Operations Lieutenant's actions was inconsistent with the
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  collective bargaining agreement and did not reflect sound correctional judgment,
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  as it would have been extremely difficult for the material
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  handler to have effective performed as duties during the third shift.
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  All Right, folks, we're gonna wrap it up here, and
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  then in the next episode, we're gonna pick back up
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  with section four of Chapter seven, and that is clearing
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  the ten PM institutional count knowing that it was inaccurate.
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  All of the information that goes with this episode can
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  be found in the description box.