Tova Noel

Background

Tova Noel was employed as a correctional officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City, a federal detention facility where Jeffrey Epstein was held following his July 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges. She was a relatively junior correctional officer at the time of the events in question.

MCC was operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time of Epstein’s detention, MCC was already known to federal officials as an understaffed and overstretched facility with chronic staffing problems.

Connection to Epstein

Noel was on duty in the housing unit where Epstein was being held on the night of August 9–10, 2019. She was paired with officer Michael Thomas for the overnight shift. Federal regulations required that correctional officers make rounds and check on inmates every 30 minutes throughout the night. Both Noel and Thomas were also required to verify that Epstein — who was supposed to be on suicide watch monitoring — was alive and well.

Prosecutors charged that Noel and Thomas failed to conduct the required checks on Epstein for several hours on the night of his death. Specifically, they were charged with falsifying prison records by logging checks they did not actually perform. According to the indictment, Noel spent time browsing the internet and shopping online, and Thomas was asleep during the relevant period.

Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 6:30 AM on August 10, 2019, and was pronounced dead. The New York City medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging.

Aftermath

Noel and Thomas were indicted in November 2019 on charges of falsifying records and making false statements. Both pleaded not guilty. In May 2021, federal prosecutors sought to dismiss the charges against both guards without explanation, citing “deferred prosecution agreements.” The charges were dropped, and neither guard was ultimately convicted. The dismissal without trial contributed to ongoing public criticism that no one was held accountable for the security failures surrounding Epstein’s death.