Tova Noel and Michael Thomas initially said they had made all required checks on the night Jeffrey Epstein allegedly committed suicide in a New York jail.
However, new evidence showed the guards spent most of their shift sleeping and browsing the internet.
Both guards were seen asleep on video for as long as one hour.
Procedures required the guards to make rounds every 30 minutes, which they failed to do. The guards sat most of the night only 15 feet away from Jeffrey Epstein, a man accused of unprecented sex trafficking with some of the world’s most powerful individuals who was awaiting trial at the time.
Federal prosecutors striked a deal with Noel and Thomas. The guards will avoid jailtime and will be assigned 100 hours of community service.
The deal is awaiting approval from a judge and could be finalized as early as next week.
Both guards were working overtime the night Epstein died. Authorities blamed mandatory overtime and staffing shortages for the lack of proper monitoring by Noel and Thomas.
Esptein’s death has compromised the investigation into the financier’s alleged sex trafficking for powerful individuals. Internet users largely questioned the fact that Epstein committed suicide.
In August 2019, the FBI promised an investigation. Then-Attorney General William Barr said: “We will get to the bottom of it, and there will be accountability”.
