Overview
Two Bureau of Prisons correctional officers assigned to watch Jeffrey Epstein on the night of August 9-10, 2019 were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2019 for falsifying prison records. The guardsTova Noel and Michael Thomasadmitted to sleeping on duty and browsing the internet instead of conducting the required 30-minute wellness checks. Their criminal case dragged through the courts before ultimately being dismissed.
What They Were Charged With
The indictment alleged that Noel and Thomas:
- Failed to conduct mandatory 30-minute inmate checks for approximately 6-8 hours
- Falsified BOP logs to indicate checks were performed when they were not
- Made false entries in recordsa federal crime regardless of the outcome for Epstein
Neither was charged with causing Epstein’s death. The charges were specifically limited to the log falsification.
How It Happened
According to the BOP investigation:
- Thomas worked a late tour the previous day and was covering a mandatory extra shifteffectively a double shift. He reportedly fell asleep in front of his workstation.
- Noel was also on a double-shift schedule. She was reportedly browsing the internet during the period when checks should have been performed.
- The BOP’s standard of requiring individual officers to work 16-hour shifts due to chronic understaffing was repeatedly identified as a systemic failure contributing to the circumstances.
Legal Proceedings
After the November 2019 indictment, the case moved slowly. COVID-19 contributed to delays. The guards’ defense attorneys argued the charges were politically motivateda way for the government to deflect scrutiny from BOP’s systemic management failures.
In May 2021, federal prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the indictment “in the interest of justice,” citing the witnesses’ cooperation and lack of evidence beyond their admitted negligence. The judge granted the dismissal with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be re-filed.
Significance
The dismissal of the only criminal case directly connected to Epstein’s death reinforced the view of many victims and observers that no one would face legal consequences for the failures that allowed Epstein to die before his trial. Whether those failures were negligence, incompetence, or something more deliberate remains officially unresolved.