Officials: Jeffrey Epstein’s Prison Guards Were Asleep, Falsified Records
[guest post by Dana]
The two guards who were in the jail unit where Jeffrey Epstein apparently killed himself fell asleep and failed to check on him for about three hours, then falsified records to cover up their mistake, a law enforcement official and a prison official said on Tuesday.
Those disclosures came as the two guards were placed on administrative leave and the warden of the jail, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, was temporarily reassigned, pending the outcome of the investigation into Mr. Epstein’s death, the Justice Department announced.
The two correctional officers in the special housing unit where Mr. Epstein was held — 9 South — falsely recorded in a log that they had checked on the financier, who was facing sex trafficking charges, every 30 minutes, as was required, the officials said. Such false entries in an official log could constitute a federal crime.
In fact, the guards had been asleep for some or all of the three hours, the officials said.
[…]
The warden, Lamine N’Diaye, will be transferred to a Bureau of Prison office in Philadelphia while the F.B.I. and the Justice Department’s inspector general conduct inquiries. The Justice Department said in a statement that it might take additional punitive actions.
According to officials, the guards had not looked in on Epstein for three hours before he was found dead. Note: one of the two guards was a former correctional officer whose current position did not involve overseeing prisoners. Also, both of the guards were working overtime because of a staff shortage.
There will be an “after-action team” visiting the prison tomorrow to investigate whether all protocols were followed by staff before Epstein died.
I also wanted to mention that Buzzfeed News has reported that news of Jeffrey Epstein’s death was posted on 4Chan before any public announcement was made:
Almost 40 minutes before ABC News first reported Epstein’s death on Twitter, someone posted still-unverified details on 4chan, the anonymous message board popular with far-right trolls and white nationalists.
“[D]ont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. Screencap this,” read the post, which was published at 8:16 a.m. alongside an image of Pepe, the green frog that has become a mascot for right-wing internet trolls.
That message was posted 38 minutes before the first tweet about Epstein’s death from Aaron Katersky, an ABC News reporter, at 8:54 a.m. Five minutes later, the main ABC News account tweeted an article about Epstein’s death.
After publishing the post, other 4chan users egged on the author. When they expressed doubt, the original poster added more information to the discussion thread, including a detailed breakdown of the procedures allegedly used to resuscitate Epstein, which suggest the poster may have been a first responder, medical worker, or otherwise privy to details about efforts to resuscitate the disgraced financier.
The New York Fire Department has determined that the information did not come from the Fired Department. The president of the union for EMT workers Local 2507 in New York said that it “looks like a 3rd party info.” Also, there have been no comments from teh medical examiner’s office, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Additionally:
Dr. Keith Wesley, an emergency medicine physician who has authored several EMS textbooks and articles, viewed the 4chan post at BuzzFeed News’ request and said it lays out standard procedures for paramedics.
“This sounds like standard American Heart Association guidelines, which most EMS agencies use,” Wesley said.
Part of the post refers to “telemetry advised bicarb.” According to Wesley, this could mean the first responders were also speaking with the hospital as they were trying to resuscitate their patient.
Screenshot / 4chan
“Telemetry implies the paramedics were in contact with a medical control hospital who then gave orders to give Sodium Bicarbonate, bicarb which is designed to reverse the acid buildup in the blood from prolonged cardiac arrest,” Wesley said in an email.“If one of the medics posted this separately that’s a breach of protocol,” he added. “If there was identifying information on the patient, that is a violation of Federal HIPPA law.”
You can view the 4Chan posts at the link.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
It’s interesting too that when taken off suicide watch, he did not have a cellmate, which is apparently standard protocol.
Dana (fdf131) — 8/13/2019 @ 9:50 pmI guess he had a cellmate, but he was moved and he didn’t receive another for that day or two.
What I think is the sleeping and the not checking is the regular routine. More and more I see the actions of government agencies, so highly regulated and analyzed, as just falling apart. That’s what I saw when I worked for the government: the high lords did a study, filed a report, retraining, and then…nothing. Everything stayed the same.
Patricia (3363ec) — 8/13/2019 @ 9:58 pmI’ve added to the post.
Dana (fdf131) — 8/13/2019 @ 10:09 pmThis:
Absolutely.
Dana (fdf131) — 8/13/2019 @ 10:10 pmOur govt. employees are underperforming and highly overpaid.
mg (8cbc69) — 8/13/2019 @ 10:22 pmIn the populist worker’s paradise that America has become, shouldn’t prison guards be entitled to a little “Executive Time,” like their boss?
NO OBSTRUCTION!!!!!
Dave (1bb933) — 8/13/2019 @ 10:30 pm@5 Not if they are still understaffed. If they were being paid enough to attract appropriate employees, they wouldn’t be understaffed. Market forces.
Nic (896fdf) — 8/13/2019 @ 10:54 pmI’m waiting for a conspiracy theorist to say that someone from the Clinton Famiglia slipped those guards a mickey. Arkancide!
Paul Montagu (a2342d) — 8/13/2019 @ 11:23 pmEpstein aside, do trolls not know of the damage they do to their own cause? Perhaps lany knows.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 8/14/2019 @ 12:08 amThe sleeping on the job is not new. Nor is its toleration. It’s just not everywhere, or to the same degree.. But it really isn’t news.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 8/14/2019 @ 12:12 amIt this had happened in a hospital, or even a privately-run prison, and it came out that those responsible for monitoring things had been asleep on the job, there would be no end to the lawsuits.
But here? The government will close ranks, and do anything to avoid accepting blame. And they will get away with it. It’s not conspiracy when it’s bureaucracy.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 8/14/2019 @ 12:15 amDead men tell no tales! Rest easy tonight bubba.
lany (4329bb) — 8/14/2019 @ 12:26 amhttps://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20190813/judge-shelley-joseph-of-natick-accused-of-aiding-wanted-immigrant-gets-pay-restored
mg (8cbc69) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:04 amI knew it. Paid vacation for da judge. The judicial system in America is fake.
She hasn’t been convicted of anything (yet).
Dave (1bb933) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:16 am14. She hasn’t been exonerated either.
Gryph (08c844) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:21 amHow does it go? Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity?
Time123 (66d88c) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:26 am@8 If being skeptical of this story top to bottom makes me a far-right-wing conspiracy troll then wait no longer.
@9 These days it’s hard to find the middle ground. When you see red flags all over something but the collective wisdom seems to be that you’ve got to completely accept obvious lies as true or you’re a conspiracy troll some choices have to be made.
frosty (f27e97) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:29 am“@5 Not if they are still understaffed. If they were being paid enough to attract appropriate employees, they wouldn’t be understaffed. Market forces.”
Very weak. They are paid to do a job… a job that is not very difficult and given their union, a job with a decent salary and benefits. Blame also rests with supervisory staff.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:30 am6… Trump Hate Central has got him by the balls.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:39 amSeen on Facebook:
“While the medical examiner was on lunch break today, Epstein cremated himself.”
h/t Instapundit
harkin (58d012) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:41 am_
Prison or jail guard is one of the filthiest and most difficult jobs there is, and the only ones who don’t move on to anything else, even as lowly as courtroom bailiff, are the ones who cannot do anything else due to intellectual, psychological and personality deficits.
nk (dbc370) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:52 amUnion/shmunion. Most other law enforcement jobs have better, pay, benefits and working conditions, but these dregs of law enforcement will never qualify for those jobs.
nk (dbc370) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:55 am16. Time123 (66d88c) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:26 am
There is a little bit of malice here, or dishonesty, just not murder. The stupidity is continuing with pre-computer pen or pencl paper records, of making checks, (instead of a system where they had to log in they had checked at the time when they did it_ while at the same time not giving people enough time to sleep so that it wold be reasonable to epect them to do it. People sleep when they have night shifts even when they are not overtime.
As I said, the jail was not run in accordance with the rules, and it had bene run for so long in violation of the rules, that it was impossible to follow all the rules. So, of course, the false documentation.
Sammy Finkelman (324ec1) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:56 amThey are stressful jobs, but not that difficult.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:57 amWhat a disastrous combination, nk. On the flip side, I can hear people now saying: They all deserve each other…
Dana (fdf131) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:58 am“Prison or jail guard is one of the filthiest and most difficult jobs there is….”
My dad’s neighbor was a CA state prison guard.
He said his job was not difficult, retired in his mid-50s with full boat medical coverage for himself and his wife (whoever lives longest) and a pension of IIRC 70% of his last few years salary w cost of living increases. He says sometimes he feels like he hit the lottery but he’s still planning on leaving the state in the next few years because the taxes are too high.
harkin (58d012) — 8/14/2019 @ 6:58 amAlthough I still do not believe in any conspiracy theories, I have to say that Occam’s Razor is starting to get quite dull.
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 8/14/2019 @ 7:07 amYep, harkin, I have a nephew working at one in the SoCal desert and one of my youngest son’s close friends is a guard at Folsom in the north. And I know another – the father of another of my younger son’s friends – who retired in his early 50s and is living well with n retirement. The job is stressful, but not difficult.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/14/2019 @ 7:09 am1. Dana (fdf131) — 8/13/2019 @ 9:50 pm
He was taken off suicide watch on Monday, July 29, six days after he was put on it, and placed on “special observation status.”
Suicide watch is extremely restrictive and he’s not in the same place. Under “special observation status” he was back in the Special Housing Unit and was supposed to have another prisoner in the cell with him and to be checked on every 30 minutes, instead of every 15 minutes, as on “suicide watch.“
But the warden might have taken him off even the “special observation status” on Thursday, August 8 although maybe continued the checks throughout the night. (Removing the “special observation status” as a requirement would make it OK to leave him alone, and he;d probably be familiar with the rules.)
Sammy Finkelman (324ec1) — 8/14/2019 @ 7:45 am7 and 18:
I suspect they are very well compensated, and the problem is that they are compensated so well, you can’t afford enough of them.
California’s unionized prison guards go on the clock the minute they enter the parking lot. They get 8 weeks paid vacation their first year.
I understand that NY MTA workers have weird OT rules: e.g., automatically on overtime if they work thru a lunch hour, or get an automatic 4 hours extra OT if they work one minute OT. One was in the news recently for collecting over $400k in OT last year.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 8/14/2019 @ 9:40 amOn a side note, who knew Epstein’s procurer was living in the lap of luxury here in the good old USA, and is afraid to leave the house:
Dana (fdf131) — 8/14/2019 @ 9:41 am7. 18. 30.
According to the New York Daily News, the Bureau of Prisons offers guards a $10,000 bons to transfer there.
I would guess that doesn’t make up for the higher cost of living in the New York metropolitan area Maybe people already living in New York might want that job, but there is a hiring freeze.
Abolish he federal budget
Corproations don’t live by budgets decided a year or more in advance. Budgets make government dysfunctional.
Sammy Finkelman (324ec1) — 8/14/2019 @ 11:25 amWell, its a tough job, getting out of your chair and walking around. I’m not sure why they couldn’t have put Epstein on 100 percent video surveillance – I mean its 2019. Sitting at your desk watching a monitor isn’t as hard as walking around.
rcocean (1a839e) — 8/14/2019 @ 2:06 pmI wonder how many other times these guards decided to NOT walk around and Check cells. OR had malfunctioning cameras that mysteriously went out JUST AS THE PERSON DIED.
Its not like i’m skeptical or nothin’
rcocean (1a839e) — 8/14/2019 @ 2:07 pmI’d like to know how much they get paid. And what they do, except “check the cells”.
rcocean (1a839e) — 8/14/2019 @ 2:09 pmThe jail was shot one person on the midnight to 8 am shift, 18 people instead of 19, and of the 18, 10 were on overtime (some had massive amounts of overtime that week)
They keep on saying logs (marking down when the two guards in that section did a “welfare check” and looked into Jeffrey Epstein’s cell) were altered, but I think more likely they were just not entered in correctly in the first place.
They either filled it out in advance, like it was a timesheet, or they filled it out when they woke up early in the morning, say at 5:30 am, or 6 am before looking into Jeffrey Epstein’s cell. And then, boy were they surprised by what they saw.
Sammy Finkelman (324ec1) — 8/14/2019 @ 3:22 pm35. Checking the cells was probably not their normal duty. That was just to notice in case there wasan escape.
It was probably only Jeffrey Epstein, and only snce July 29, that they had to check and
look into his cell.
They could have at least moved their post to right in front of Jeffrey Epstein’s cell. They probably were not supposed to, but then they probably also were not supposed to omit the checking, or to sleep. Or to fill out their log in advance, or when it hadn’t actually happened
The video proved that they hadn’t checked, but normally nobody looks at he vdeotape I would assume.
Sammy Finkelman (324ec1) — 8/14/2019 @ 3:28 pmI do too. Because if this happened to someone as well known as Epstein, and with an enormous amount of money, what happens to prisoner with no money and no name recognition?
Dana (fdf131) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:03 pmForbes has a really interesting piece out about who the “watchers” are:
Read the whole thing.
Dana (fdf131) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:07 pmFired Department????
yoda jr. (7e7f21) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:26 pmthe information did not come from the Fired Department
yoda jr. (7e7f21) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:27 pm😻
yoda jr. (7e7f21) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:27 pmThere are articles stating that it is the guards job to check on inmates
Andrea (c27c93) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:35 pmin this special South housing unit every 30 minutes. Clearly, understaffing
& frequent overtime are no excuse to not perform
their job duties, no matter how tired the guards are. They are authorized
taken him off ‘suicide watch’ after the jail psychologist approves it. A plthora
of bad decisions are being made by staff there, due to
Understaffing. There was NO excuse for Epstein not to be closely
monitored, given his high risk of being targeted by other inmates & due to
the # of wealthy high profile people who wanted him killed, after their names were
released in the unsealed documents. It sounds like dysfunctional
management, if guards are expected to work when they are exhausted & ineffective. The top dog
can inform someone that they must get more staff, even if it meant informing judges of
the problem, politicians, etc. to get more funding & more staff. This is egregiously unfair
to the victims & to the judges & attorneys. It’s irresponsible & unethical
beyond reproach. It’s a form of blatent inside corruption. Staff documenting lies in their timelog b
books, pretending to have checked on inmates yet NOT doin
g so, is despicable. They should all be fired.
Clearly, the understaffing, exhausted guards & them lying on their logsheets is the norm here. This is quite irresponsible & inexcusable.
Andrea (c27c93) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:39 pmThere were no malfunctioning cameras. Cameras were not pointed into the cells. They were pointed into the corridor and (when checked) proved the logs to have been falsified. It is a question whether they had to do that till the guards confessed.
This about the Psych unit is interesting – that;s another place. Jeffrey Epstein was no longer under suicide watch but on “special observation status.”
This is the first successful suicide there sice 1993 or so.
Sammy Finkelman (ce0839) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:40 pmAndrea (c27c93) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:35 pm
The Bureau of Prisons had some kind of a hiring freeze imposed by Mulvaney probably. They were offering $10,000 to anyone who worked somewhere else who would transfer in.
Sammy Finkelman (ce0839) — 8/14/2019 @ 4:43 pm