Jeffrey Epstein's Prison Guards Are Indicted On Federal Charges

Two correctional officers who were assigned to guard Jeffrey Epstein on the night he was found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide have been indicted on criminal charges, federal prosecutors in New York announced Tuesday.

Authorities have charged Michael Thomas and Tova Noel with making false records and conspiracy. The two worked as jail guards at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail in Manhattan that's mostly used for defendants awaiting trial.

According to video surveillance footage obtained by prosecutors, Epstein was in his cell unobserved for eight hours before he was found dead. The unit requires that all inmates be accounted for twice an hour.

Prosecutors say while working an overnight shift, Thomas and Noel, the only two officers assigned to his wing, neglected to check on Epstein.

According to the indictment, Thomas and Noel sat at their desks and browsed the Internet for furniture, motorcycle sales and sports news instead of monitoring Epstein in his cell, some 15 feet away in the Special Housing Unit.