Overview of investigation of MCC officers an official and an official, Nov. 2019

United States v. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas¶

November 14, 2019¶

Overview of Investigation¶

• Interviewed more than 27 MCC employees and 16 inmates at MCC
• Reviewed hundreds of hours of video of the SHU from July 23- August 10, 2019
• Subpoenaed and reviewed hundreds of pages of MCC records, bank records, phone records, etc.

Relevant Entities and Individuals¶

• The MCC is a federal administrative detention facility located in Manhattan that is run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”). The MCC is one of several facilities used to house inmates who have been charged with federal crimes in the Southern District of New York and are awaiting trial. The MCC employs correctional officers, whose primary duty is to ensure the care, custody, and control of the inmate population of the MCC.
• TOVA NOEL, the defendant, has been employed as a correctional officer at the MCC since approximately 2016. As of August 2019, NOEL’s primary assignment was the SHU. On August 9, 2019, NOEL worked a regular shift from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the SHU, and then worked an overtime shift from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. on August 10, 2019, also in the SHU. The day prior, NOEL had worked a regular shift from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the SHU on August 8, 2019.
• MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendant, has been employed as a correctional officer at the MCC since approximately 2007. Beginning in approximately 2013, THOMAS was assigned to work as a materials handler supervisor, although THOMAS regularly worked overtime shifts as a correctional officer. THOMAS worked an overtime shift in the SHU on August 10, 2019, from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. The day prior, THOMAS was on leave on August 8, 2019, and worked an overtime shift on August 9, 2019 from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the SHU, but did not work a regular shift on August 9, 2019.
• Jeffrey Epstein was incarcerated at the MCC between his arrest on July 6, 2019, and his suicide on August 10, 2019. Epstein was detained pending trial in the Southern District of New York on sex trafficking charges.

Background of the MCC and Special Housing Unit (SHU)¶

• The MCC, which houses approximately 750 inmates at any given time, assigns inmates to various housing units within the MCC.
• The SHU is a housing unit within the MCC where inmates are securely separated from the general inmate population to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of staff and other inmates. The SHU is located on the ninth floor of the MCC, and access to that floor is controlled by a locked door that can be opened remotely only by an officer in the MCC’s centralized control center (the “Control Center”), which is located on the first floor of the MCC.
• Access into the SHU is also controlled by a second locked door to which only correctional officers assigned to the SHU have keys while on duty.
• Within the SHU, inmates are assigned to six separate tiers, each of which can be accessed only via a single locked door to which the correctional officers assigned to the SHU have keys while on duty.
• Each tier has eight cells, each of which can house either one or two prisoners, and each individual cell which is made of cement and metal - is accessed only through a single locked door, to which only correctional officers assigned to the SHU have keys while on duty.

Count Policies¶

• The BOP requires correctional officers assigned to guard inmates at the MCC to conduct institution-wide counts of inmates at regular, scheduled intervals to ensure that each inmate is alive and accounted for within the MCC (the “institutional count”).
• On weekdays, the MCC conducts five institutional counts at 4 p.m., 10 p.m., 12 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m. Performing an institutional count is one of the most basic and essential aspects of a correctional officer’s job, and the count is one of the most basic and essential functions of daily operation of the MCC.
• Two officers are required to complete the institutional count for each housing unit, including the SHU, and are further required to document their performance of the count on an official MCC form called a count slip. To complete the institutional count in the SHU, two officers must walk from tier to tier to observe and count each individual inmate.
• On the count slip, both correctional officers are required to fill in the date and time the count was performed, write the total number of inmates physically present in the unit counted, and then sign the count slip.

Count Policies Cont’d¶

• Once the correctional officers have completed and signed the count slips, the count slips are then collected and delivered to the Control Center, where officers within the Control Center are responsible for comparing the count slips from each housing unit to the institution’s inmate roster to ensure that each inmate is accounted for.
• Only after all the count slips are collected from each housing unit, and the numbers on the slips are matched to the institution’s inmate roster, can the institutional count be deemed “cleared” or completed. If a housing unit’s count slip is incorrect or incomplete, then the institution cannot “clear” the count, and the count must be completely redone in that housing unit via a more-intensive version of the institutional count called a “bed book count” in which officers must compare every individual inmate to the institution’s inmate roster.
• Records of each institutional count, including the count slips, are provided to a supervising official and retained by the MCC.

Count slip¶

Example of an Institutional Count¶

30-Minute Round Policies¶

• In addition to the institutional count, the BOP requires . correctional officers assigned to the SHU to complete rounds every thirty minutes (“30-minute rounds”).
• Like the institutional counts, correctional officers conduct . 30-minute rounds to ensure that each inmate is alive and accounted for within his cell.
• Correctional officers working in the SHU are required to . complete a form, which is reviewed and signed by their supervisor, documenting the date and time of each 30minute round in each tier of the SHU.

DATE:	MCC NEW YORK	ZA TIER-G 08/09/2019	SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT 30 MINUTE CHECK SHEET				LAND SUBSIDENSE WANT
AVE	THE START	THUS END	SIGNATURE	TME FRAME	TIME START	TMC CH3	SIGNATURI
0 AM				4.00-4 30 PM
3 ASA				435-5.00 PM
0 AM				5.00 -5 30 PM
197 DOG				630-600 PM
30 AM				6.00-8.30 PM
OO AN				6:36-7 DO PM
30 NV				7 00-7 30 PM
00 AM	5			7.56-8.00 PM
30 PM				800-5 30 PM
00 PM				8 30- 0-00 PM
0 PM				0 00-9 30 PM
ે છે છે.	12			9 36-12 00 PM
a Phi				10:00-10:30 PM
3 PM				10:30-11:00 PM
2 PM				11.00-11:30 PM
0 PM				11 30-12:00 PM
				VENING WATCH OFERATIONS IRUTINANT

30-minute round sheet¶

July 23, 2019 Apparent Suicide Attempt¶

• On July 6, 2019, inmate Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and detained at the MCC on sex trafficking charges. On July 10, 2019, Epstein was assigned to the SHU due to, among other things, risk factors for suicidality and safety concerns.
• On July 23, 2019, while Epstein was housed in the SHU, MCC officers responded to an emergency call, and found Epstein on the floor of his cell with a strip of bedsheet around his neck. MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendant, was one of the MCC officers who responded to the incident.
• Epstein was subsequently transferred out of SHU and was placed on suicide watch. Inmates placed on suicide watch are housed in a cell on the hospital wing floor of the MCC, and are watched twenty-four hours a day by a staff member or a specially trained inmate companion.

Epstein’s Return to the SHU¶

• Epstein remained on suicide watch for approximately twenty-four hours, and then was transferred to psychological observation, until July 30, 2019. Psychological observation is less restrictive than suicide watch, but inmates are still housed in the hospital wing of the MCC and watched twenty-four hours a day.
• On July 30, 2019, Epstein was transferred back to the SHU, and, at the direction of the MCC’s psychological staff, was required to have an assigned cellmate. Epstein was also assigned to the cell closest to the correctional officers’ desk in the common area of the SHU, which was approximately fifteen feet from the cell.

EFTA02731801¶

Events of August 9, 2019¶

• On August 9, 2019, Epstein’s cellmate was transferred out of the MCC in a routine, pre-arranged transfer at approximately 8 a.m. Despite the MCC’s psychological staff’s direction that Epstein have a cellmate, no new cellmate was assigned to Epstein’s cell.
• TOVA NOEL, the defendant, was one of the assigned officers on duty in the SHU from 4 p.m. on August 9, 2019 to 8 a.m. on August 10. From 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., two other officers were on duty with NOEL in the SHU: one officer was assigned to work from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. (“Officer-1”), and one officer was assigned to work from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. (“Officer-2”). MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendant, started his shift in the SHU at 12 a.m. on August 10. From 12 a.m. until 8 a.m. on August 10, NOEL and THOMAS were the only two officers on duty in the SHU.

4 PM Count August 9, 2019¶

• TOVA NOEL, the defendant, and Officer-1 were responsible for conducting the 4 p.m. institutional count in the SHU. As video from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system makes clear, NOEL and Officer-1 did not complete the 4 p.m. count.
• Nonetheless, NOEL and Officer-1 completed and signed a count slip that falsely stated that the 4 p.m. . institutional count had been performed. In reliance on that falsified count slip, at approximately 5:03 p.m., the Control Center cleared the 4 p.m. count.
• That evening, as confirmed by video surveillance, Epstein returned to the SHU from his attorney visit and was . escorted into his cell by TOVA NOEL, the defendant, and another officer at approximately 7:49 p.m. NOEL and the other officer left the tier in which Epstein was housed immediately thereafter.

		Official Count Slip
Unit:	ZA	8/9/19 Date:
Count:	75	4:00 Time:
Print Name:
Signature:
Print Name	DEVIS
Signature:

10 pm Count¶

• By or before 10 p.m., all inmates in the MCC were locked in their cells for the night. At or around that time, TOVA NOEL, the defendant, and Officer-2 were responsible for conducting the 10 p.m. institutional count in the SHU.
• However, video from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system shows that NOEL and Officer-2 did not complete the 10 p.m. count. Nonetheless, NOEL and Officer-2 completed and signed a count slip falsely stating that the 10 p.m. institutional count had been completed. In reliance on that falsified count slip, at approximately 10:36 p.m., the Control Center cleared the 10 p.m. count.
• As reflected on video obtained from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on August 9, 2019 — after TOVA NOEL, the defendant, had signed and submitted the 10 p.m. count slip and the institutional count had been completed — NOEL briefly walked up to, and then walked back from, the door to the tier in which Epstein was housed. As confirmed by the video obtained from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system, this was the last time anyone, including any correctional officer, walked up to, let alone entered, the only entrance to the tier in which Epstein was housed until approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10.

12 AM Count¶

• Officer-l’s shift ended at approximately 10 p.m., and at approximately 12 a.m., MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendant, replaced Officer-2, joining TOVA NOEL, the defendant, as the only two correctional officers on duty in the SHU.
• NOEL and THOMAS were responsible for conducting the 12 a.m. institutional count in the SHU.
• As confirmed by video from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system, NOEL and THOMAS did not complete the 12 a.m. count. Nonetheless, NOEL and THOMAS completed and signed a count slip for the 12 a.m. count that falsely stated that the institutional count had been completed.
• In reliance on that falsified count slip, at approximately 12:49 a.m., the Control Center cleared the 12 a.m. count.

3 AM & 5 AM Counts¶

• TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, were additionally responsible for conducting the 3 a.m. and . 5 a.m. institutional counts in the SHU. As confirmed by video from the MCC’s internal video surveillance system, NOEL and THOMAS did not complete either the 3 a.m. or the 5 a.m. counts.
• NOEL and THOMAS nonetheless completed and signed counts that falsely stated that they . had completed the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. institutional counts. In reliance on those falsified count slips, at approximately 3:24 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the Control Center cleared the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts, respectively.

metropoman correctional Center Official Count Slip	Metropolitan Correctional Center Official Count Slip
ZA Unit: Date	8.10 . 20K ZA Unit: Date:
13 Count:	ਜੋ ਪੇ 5:00 gm Count:
Print Name:	Print Name:
Signature:	Signature:
Print Name:	Print Name:
Signature:	Signature:

5 AM Count¶

PRIVILEGED: ATTORNEY WORK-PRODUCT, NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OUTSIDE USAO-SDNY¶

30-Minute Rounds¶

• Moreover, despite the requirement that officers on duty in the SHU conduct and document regular, 30-minute . rounds, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, did not perform any of the required 30-minute rounds during their shift between approximately 12 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
• Nonetheless, NOEL completed and signed more than 75 separate 30-minute round entries falsely affirming that they had, in fact, conducted such rounds.

DATE:		ZA TIER-G 08/09/2019
40%	19.40 2014/07	48.07 2.7400	Selectrical	THAT FILANE	THE LInkT	THE 643	DOHATURE
10				4 00+ 30 PM
2481				4 30-5 60 PM
AN	11			1.09 - 3.20 PM	1/2
A All				4 3-2-4 00 PM
M AN	C	11		1464 10 PM
NY JIN	0			4.50-7.00 PM
M JU	11			7 00:7 20 PM
20 #M	2			7.26-8 00-FM	નના	296
2019-04-	11			4 015-4 50-8161	្គក្រៅ
10 110	24	41		816-92084	5 25 0
14	5	0		6 94 0 8 8 0 6 9 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 9 6 9 9 8 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	20 8
14	11	27		6 245-45 00 PM	241
19	10			10 00-12 30 PM	1110
14				43.95-11.948 PM	Ledito
10				11 (2011-11-20) PM
11				TEMPLETEN

NOEL and THOMAS’S Activities Overnight¶

• During the night, instead of completing the required counts and rounds, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, were seated at the correctional officers’ desk in the SHU common area (as noted above, approximately 15 feet from Epstein’s cell), using the computers, and moving around the SHU common area. For an approximately two hour period, NOEL and THOMAS sat at their desk without moving, and appeared to be asleep. NOEL used the computer periodically throughout the night, including to search the internet for furniture sales and benefit websites. THOMAS used the computer briefly around 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and 6 a.m. to search for motorcycle sales and sports news.
• At approximately 4 a.m., the overnight supervisor briefly visited NOEL and THOMAS in the SHU, and conferred with NOEL and THOMAS, who were seated at and around the officers’ desk, before leaving. At approximately 5:30 a.m., another correctional officer briefly walked through the SHU common area. Aside from those two officers, as confirmed by video surveillance, no one else entered the SHU, no one conducted any counts or rounds throughout the night, and no one entered the tier in which Epstein was housed.

Epstein’s Suicide¶

• Shortly after 6 a.m. on August 10, 2019, MICHAEL THOMAS and TOVA NOEL, the defendants, received a delivery of breakfast carts into the SHU, after which time they were again the only officers in the SHU.
• Shortly after 6:30 a.m., NOEL and THOMAS walked up to and entered the tier in which Epstein was housed to serve breakfast.
• At approximately 6:33 a.m., an alarm was activated in the SHU. Epstein was alone in his cell and not responsive, with a noose around his neck.
• A supervising correctional officer who had just started his shift (“Supervisor-1”) responded to the alarm, and as NOEL approached the door to the SHU to open the door for Supervisor-1, NOEL told Supervisor-1 that “Epstein hung himself.” Epstein was transferred to a local hospital where he was declared dead shortly thereafter. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined that Epstein had committed suicide by hanging himself.
• After arriving in the SHU, Supervisor-1 spoke with MICHAEL THOMAS and TOVA NOEL, the defendants. NOEL told Supervisor-1 “we did not complete the 3am nor 5 am rounds.” THOMAS stated, “we messed up,” and “I messed up, she’s not to blame, we didn’t do any rounds.”

EFTA02731811¶

r 19¶

ﺍﻟﻤﺎﺿﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤ¶

1
2
3	UNITED STATES GRAND JURY
4	SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
5x
6	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
7	-V
8	TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS
9x	(2019R01089)
10		United States Courthouse
11		Foley Square New York, New York
12		November 14, 2019
13		2:18 p.m.
14	APPEARANCE S:
15
16		States Attorney
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24		Jury Reporter
25
	FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947	EFTA02731812

		11/14/19
1		(Colloquy Precedes)
2	(Witness Enters Room)
3	(Time Noted: 2:21 p.m.)
4		called as a witness, having been duly sworn by
5		the Foreperson of the Grand Jury, was examined and
6		testified as follows:
7	BY
8	Q.	Good afternoon.
9	A.	Good afternoon.
10	Q.	Would you please state and spell your name?
11	A.
12	Q.	Where do you work?
13	A.	The FBI.
14	Q.	I’ll ask you to just speak into the microphone a
15	little bit more.
16		What’s your title at the FBI?
17	A.	Special agent.
18	Q.	Are you assigned to a particular unit at the FBI?
19	A.	Yes, the Violent Crimes Task Force.
20	Q.	In preparing to testify today, have you spoken
21		with other people, including other law enforcement officers
22	about this case?
23	A.	Yes.
24	Q.	Have you reviewed reports and documents prepared
25		by others regarding this case?
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11/14/19 3 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Will your testimony be based in part on those 3 conversations and documents? 4 A. Yes. 5 Ladies and gentlemen, some of the 6 testimony you’ll hear today from Special Agent will 7 include hearsay. That means that she will not be testifying 8 solely from her personal observations, but what others have 9 told her and what she’s read in reports and documents 10 prepared by others. 11 Hearsay evidence is admissible and proper in the 12 grand jury proceedings, and you’re permitted to rely on it 13 in determining whether there’s probable cause to indict the 14 Defendants. If you want to hear the testimony of other 15 witnesses, you can request it and we’ll make reasonable 16 efforts to bring that witness before you. 17 BY 18 Q. Special Agent , before we get into the result 19 of the investigation, could you just describe for the grand 20 jury what your investigation has entailed since August 10th, 21 2019? 22 A. Numerous interviews of employees at MCC and 23 inmates that were housed at MCC. There was extensive, 24 intensive video review of the video available in the SHU 25 from July 23rd to August 10, 2019. And there have been¶

11/14/19 4 1 records that were subpoenaed and reviewed from MCC regarding 2 their records, bank records and phone records. 3 Q. And you said “SHU,” is that the Special Housing 4 Unit at the MCC? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. We’ll get to that in a moment. Why was the video 7 review only of July 23rd through August 10th of this year? 8 A. Because that was the available video that we had 9 of the Special Housing Unit in MCC. 10 Q. So MCC didn’t have video before July 23rd? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. So let’s talk about some of the relevant people 13 and entities that we’ll be discussing today. 14 First, what is the MCC? 15 A. It is a federal detention facility that’s located 16 in Manhattan, and it’s run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 17 or BOP. It is used to house inmates who have been charged 18 with federal crimes in the Southern District of New York and 19 are awaiting trial. 20 Q. Does the MCC employ correctional officers: 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. What is their function? 23 A. Their primary duty is to ensure the care, custody 24 and control of the inmates who are housed at MCC. 25 Q. Who is Tova Noel? FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947

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11/14/19¶

1 A. She is one of the Defendants in this 2 investigation. She is a correctional officer at MCC. She 3 has been employed there since 2016. As of August 2019, her 4 primary assignment was in the SHU at MCC. 5 Q. What shifts did she work on August 8th, August 9th 6 and August 10th?¶

7 A. On August 8th, she worked a regular shift from 12 8 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the SHU. And then on August 9th, she 9 worked a regular shift from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. in the SKI. 10 And then she worked an overtime shift in the SHU from 11 12 a.m. to 8 a.m.¶

12 Q. Who is Michael Thomas?¶

13 A. He is also a Defendant and also employed at MCC 14 since approximately 2007. In around 2013, he was assigned 15 as a materials handler supervisor, but he would also work 16 overtime shifts as a correctional officer.¶

17 Q. What shifts did Thomas work on August 8th, 9th and 18 10th?¶

19 A. On August 8th, he was on leave. And then on 20 August 9th, he worked an overtime shift from 12 a.m. to 8 21 a.m. in the SHU. And then August 10th, he worked in the SHU 22 from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m.¶

23 Q. Who was Jeffrey Epstein?¶

24 A. And then Jeffrey Epstein was an inmate in MC. 25 between his arrest of July 6th and August 10th, and he was¶

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11/14/19 1 detained there pending trial for sex trafficking charges. 2 Q. I’d like to talk about the MCC and Special Housing 3 Unit generally. How many inmates are housed at the MCC at 4 any given time? 5 A. Approximately 750. 6 Q. What is the SHU, or Special Housing Unit? 7 A. That is a unit that is separated from the general 8 inmate population, and that is to ensure the safety of those 9 inmates and staff. 10 Q. Where within the MCC is the SHU located? 11 A. It’s on the ninth floor. 12 Q. On the ninth floor? 13 A. Um-hmm. 14 Q. How many inmates are housed in the SHU at any 15 given time? 16 A. Approximately — around 70, give or take a few. 17 Q. I’d like to talk about how you get into the SHU. 18 So a correctional officer, how would they get into the SHU 19 from the first floor of the MCC? 20 A. Pretty much access into the SHU is through the 21 control center, which is on the first floor of MCC, and the 22 correctional officer would request access to the doors 23 leading into the SHU from control. 24 Q. And just to clarify, the control center control. 25 access; is that right?¶

1 A. Correct. 2 Q. So an officer gets off the elevator on the ninth 3 floor, and then what happens? 4 A. And then there’s a door leading into the — like 5 another little room before you get to the SHU. But that 6 door, the officer has to request access from control in 7 order to access it. 8 Q. So control buzzes the officer into the first 9 locked door? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And then what happens? 12 A. And then there’s another locked door that the 13 officer inside of the SHU has the key for, and that officer 14 unlocks the door and lets the other correctional officer in. 15 Q. Okay. This is a photograph of the SHU; is that 16 right? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. What is the vantage point that we’re looking at? 19 A. Right in front, there’s a desk with computers. 20 This is the correctional officers’ desk. And then you are 21 looking out into what they call the multi-purpose area of 22 the SHU. 23 Q. So you described, when you get off of the ninth 24 floor, there’s one locked door that’s controlled by the 25 control center?¶

11/14/19 7¶

11/14/19 8 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And then there’s a second locked door that can be 3 opened from the inside by an officer in the SHU? 4 A. Correct. 5 Q. So once you go through the second locked door, 6 where would you be? 7 A. Then you would be in that big, massive, like, 8 center space right there. 9 Q. The multi-purpose area? 10 A. The multi-purpose area. 11 Q. Okay. And then how are the cells divided within 12 the SHU? 13 A. The cells are contained within tiers, and there 14 are six tiers in the SHU. 15 Q. Is a tier like a hallway? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. How many tiers are there within the SHU? 18 A. Six. 19 Q. How many cells are there within each tier? 20 A. Eight. 21 Q. So directing your attention to the stairway up on 22 the upper left, what does that lead to? 23 A. That’s L-tier. 24 Q. Is that one of the tiers? 25 A. Yes, that’s one of the tiers. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

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11/14/19 9 1 Q. How is it accessed you to each tier controlled 2 (verbatim)? 3 A. There is a metal door, what is referred to as a 4 grill, and it is accessed by a key, and that key is held by 5 one of the SHU officers. 6 Q. So there’s a locked door here to get into the 7 tier; is that right? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. And then within the tier, are the cell doors also 10 locked? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Who has access to the cell doors? 13 A. That would be one of the SHU officers as well. 14 Q. How is that controlled, is it a key? 15 A. It’s a key, um-hmm. 16 Q. Can you see one of the cell doors up on the upper 17 left of this photograph? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. What are the cells made out of? 20 A. Metal and concrete. 21 Q. What is an institutional count? 22 A. An institutional count is when the correctional 23 officers go around and count the inmates inside of their 24 cells. 25 Q. Does the BOP require correctional officers at the FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

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	11/14/19
1	MCC to conduct regular counts?
2	A. Yes.
3	Q. Why?
4	That is — basically, it serves two purposes, and A.
5	one is a welfare check to make sure that the inmates are
6	alive. And then two, it’s to make sure that all the inmates
7	that are supposed to be there are there.
8	Q. So no one’s escaped?
9	A. Exactly.
10	Q. On weekdays, what time is the institutional count?
11	There’s a 4 p.m., a 10 p.m., a 12 a.m., a 3 a.m. A.
12	and a 5 a.m.
13	Q. So five institutional counts —
14	A. Yes.
15	— per weekday? Q.
16	A. Per weekday
17	Is it one of the most basic and essential Q. Okay.
18	aspects of the correctional officers’ job?
19	A. Yes.
20	Q. Is the count itself to ensure that the inmates are
21	alive and haven’t escaped? Is that one of the most
22	important and essential functions of the institution, of the
23	MCC?
24	A. Yes.
25	Can you describe how — focusing just on the SHU, Q.
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1 how do officers conduct the institutional count? 2 A. So it takes two officers. By policy, you’re 3 supposed to have two officers. One officer has the key to 4 the grill, which is the access into the tier, and then the 5 other officer would have the key to each cell. The officer 6 with the key to the grill lets the other officer in. That 7 officer goes down the tier, or down range. And they are to 8 at least look inside each cell and make sure that the 9 inmates are alive. And they count how many are in that 10 cell. And then that officer comes back down. 11 The two officers are to switch places, and the 12 other officer goes down, counts, and then comes back. And 13 then the two officers will compare the numbers that they got 14 of the inmates on that tier. 15 Q. Okay. And in the SHU, there’s six tiers. 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. So the officers do that? That same one goes down 18 and counts, the other goes down and counts, and they switch. 19 They do that six times; is that right? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Once they have the total number for the housing 22 unit, what do they do with that? 23 A. At that point, they call the control center and 24 give them that number that they, that they have for the 25 count. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.¶

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11/14/19 12 1 Q. So, for instance, if the correctional officers 2 have 72 inmates in the SHU, they would call the control 3 center and say, we have 72 inmates; is that right? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Are they also required to document the count on a 6 count slip? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Is the count slip an official MCC document? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. What information is on a count slip? 11 A. It is the number of inmates counted, the date, the 12 time, and then the officers are supposed to print and sign 13 their names as well as the — what unit it is for that 14 count. 15 Q. Once the officers complete the count slip, say the 16 4 p.m. count, what happens to the physical count slip? 17 A. It’s taken down to the control center. 18 Q. What does the control center do once they’ve 19 collected all the count slips from all the housing units? 20 A. They compare it to how many inmates are on record. 21 So the roster, basically. 22 Q. So, for instance, if the roster says we have 75C 23 inmates, the control center would add up all of the count 24 slips, and if it reaches 750, then what happens? 25 A. Then the count can be cleared. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

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11/14/19¶

1 Q. What happens if a housing unit turns in an 2 incomplete or incorrect count slip? 3 A. Then at that point, that unit would have to do a 4 bed book count. 5 Q. A bed book count? 6 A. Um-hmm. 7 Q. Backing up. Can the control center clear the 8 institutional count if one of the count slips is incorrect 9 or incomplete? 10 A. No. 11 Q. So the housing unit that has the wrong, or 12 incomplete, count slip has to do a bed book count? 13 A. Right. 14 Q. What is that? 15 A. That’s pretty much when the officers have to, 16 basically do a redo, but it’s more intensive in that they 17 have to compare each individual inmate to the inmate roster. 18 Q. Are records of the institutional count maintained 19 by the MCC? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Are they provided to a supervisor at the MCC? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. So on this slide, we have a video that we’re going 24 to play. Can you just describe before we play the video the 25 vantage points that we’re looking at from this camera angle? FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

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11/14/19 14 1 A. Basically, this is looking down into the multi-2 purpose area. Over in the cornier right there, you see a 3 desk; that is the correctional officers’ desk. 4 Q. So is this the opposite vantage point to the 5 photograph you saw earlier? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. I’m going to press “play.” This is just an 8 example of a count; is that correct? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. And I’ll ask you to narrate what we’re seeing as 11 it’s playing. And it’s been sped up, right? 12 A. Yes. So that is two officers that you use. 13 They’re going to each tier. And being that this is an 14 example of a 3 a.m. count, they have that flashlight just so 15 they can look inside and see inmates inside their cells. 16 Q. Just speaking about the count, you mentioned that 17 you had reviewed hundreds of hours of videotape from July 18 23rd through August 10th; is that right? 19 A. Yes. It was myself and an analyst, another FBI 20 employee that reviewed the video. 21 Q. What was one of the purposes of that video review 22 for such a long time period? 23 A. It was to review the times around the times that 24 the count should have been conducted to see if correctional 25 officers actually did counts in MCC in the SHU area. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription¶

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11/14/19¶

1 Q. What did you find? 2 A. That the majority of the counts were conducted. 3 Q. How did you determine whether a count was 4 conducted? 5 A. So we would review — so let’s say, for instance, 6 this 3 a.m. we would review 2:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. So a 7 count, by policy, is supposed to be conducted around 3 a.m. 8 So we would give them that little leeway of 30 minutes 9 before and 30 minutes after. 10 Q. How could you tell if a count was done? 11 A. As we saw in this video, you would see the two 12 officers, which, by policy, is what’s required, go to each 13 and every tier. So if we saw two officers go to each and 14 every tier, that’s what’s indicative of a count being 15 conducted. 16 Q. Within 30 minutes — 17 A. Within that — 18 Q. — of either side of the actual institutional 19 count? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Okay. Looking at this camera angle, is this the 22 only camera angle that was available in the SHU? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Where were the cameras supposed to have been In 25 the SHU? FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.¶

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11/14/19 16 1 A. There was another camera, basically to the right 2 of this one out in the multi-purpose area. And then there 3 were other cameras in the tiers themselves. 4 Q. Based on the investigation, did you come to learn 5 why those cameras were not recording or functioning? 6 A. Yes. Those cameras were on another DVR, and there 7 was a system failure previously on that DVR that, basically, 8 the cameras stopped recording because of that. 9 Q. Did that happen in advance of August 9th? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. So you’ve reviewed hundreds of hours of this 12 camera angle; is that right? 13 A. Yes, extensive, extensive video. 14 Q. And you’re able to see whether officers walked 15 towards each of the six tiers; is that right? 16 A. Yes, you can see whether they walked towards them, 17 yes. 18 Q. Are there any cameras in the SHU that are into 19 each individual inmate’s cell? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Would that be an invasion of privacy? 22 A. Probably, yes. 23 Q. So I’d like to talk about what 30-minute rounds 24 are. So you talked about the institutional count that 25 applies to every housing unit at the MCC. Does the SHU have FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.¶

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11/14/19 1 any additional counts or rounds that are required? 2 A. Yes. They are supposed to do rounds every 30 to 3 40 minutes. 4 Q. What’s the purpose of those — we’ll call them 5 30-minute rounds? 6 A. It’s pretty much kind of like a count. It’s like 7 a welfare check of the inmates, except, at this time, they 8 don’t actually count each inmate. 9 Q. So two officers are required to walk down each 10 tier every 30 minutes; is that right? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And that’s 24-hours a day; is that right? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Are the officers required to document the fact 15 that the counts were performed? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Or the rounds were performed? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. How do they do that? 20 A. They do that on a 30-minute check sheet. 21 Q. Is this an example of such a sheet up here on the 22 slide? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Can you describe what it shows? 25 A. So that’s one for the Special Housing Unit, the FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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	18 11/14/19
1	SHU, and it’s for Tier G. And then it says when a count
2	I mean, I’m sorry, when a round started and when it ended.
3	And then it gives the total. And then the officer is
4	supposed to sign off on that.
5	Q. Is the 30-minute round form signed and reviewed by
6	a supervisor during each shift?
7	A. Yes.
8	Q. You mentioned earlier that Jeffrey Epstein first
9	arrived at MCC on July 6th, 2019?
10	A. Yes.
11	Q. When was he assigned to the SHU?
12	A. On July 10th, 2019.
13	Q. Why was he assigned to the SHU?
14	A. Because he was a high-profile inmate, and also
15	because of what he was being charged with, there are risk
16	factors for suicide and safety concerns that go along with
17	that.
18	Q. Who determined that he had risk factors for
19	suicide?
20	A. The psychologists at MCC.
21	Please describe what, if anything, happened on 22 Q.
	July 23rd, 2019.
23	Q. On July 23rd, 2019, Epstein was housed in the SHU,
24	and some MCC officers responded to an emergency call, and
25	Epstein was found on the floor of his cell with a bed shee
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		19 11/14/19
1	around his neck.
2	Q.	Is that a photograph of the sheet on the right on
3	this slide?
4	A.	Yes.
5	Q.	Were either of the Defendants one of the officers
6		who responded to this incident?
7	A.	Yes, Thomas, Michael Thomas.
8	Q.	What happened after Epstein was found in this way?
9	A.	At that point, he was transferred out of the SHU
10		and put on suicide watch.
11	Q.	What is suicide watch?
12	A.	Suicide watch is when an inmate is housed in a
13		cell in the hospital wing and under constant supervision by
14		either staff or a specially trained inmate.
15	Q.	When an inmate is on suicide watch, can they wear
16		their own clothes?
17	A.	No.
18	Q.	What are — what must they wear?
19	A.	It’s a suicide smock.
20	Q.	The photo on the left, is that a picture of the
21	suicide smock?
22	A.	Yes.
23	Q.	How long was Epstein on suicide watch?
24	A.	He was on suicide watch for approximately 24
25	hours.

11/14/19 20 1 Q. What happened after that? 2 A. And then at that point, he was transferred to 3 psychological observation. 4 Q. What is psychological observation? 5 A. It’s like a step down from suicide watch. They’re 6 still constantly under observation, but it’s less 7 restrictive. 8 Q. Based on your interviews with the psychology 9 staff, did you come to learn that approximately a week on 10 suicide watch and psychological observation was a usual 11 amount of time or an unusual amount of time to be on that 12 status? 13 A. Unusual. 14 Q. In what way? 15 A. Longer than usual. 16 Q. On July 30th, 2019, what happened? 17 A. He was transferred back to the SHU. 18 Q. Did the psychology department provide any 19 instructions about whether he should be housed with a 20 cellmate? 21 A. Yes. They recommended that he would be housed — 22 that he should be housed with a cellmate. 23 Q. Was he in fact assigned a cellmate? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Which cell was Epstein assigned to when he FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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11/14/19 21 1 returned to the SHU on July 30th? 2 A. He was on L-tier. And the picture that you 3 showed earlier and you said, is that a cell that you can 4 see, it was, it was that one. 5 Q. Is that the closest cell to the officers’ desk? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. When you’re sitting at the desk, can the officers 8 see all the way into the cell? 9 A. No. 10 Q. When you’re an inmate in that cell and you’re 11 standing at the window of the cell, can you see down into 12 the officers’ desk? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And approximately how many feet away was Epstei-’s 15 cell from the officers’ desk? 16 A. Fifteen. 17 Q. On this slide, starting with the photo on the 18 left, what does this depict? 19 A. That is what I referred to as the grill, that 20 first door leading inside a tier, and that’s L-tier. 21 Q. And then looking in the photograph in the center, 22 what does this depict? 23 A. That’s Epstein’s cell. 24 Q. And the door is open; is that right? 25 A. Yes, um-hmm. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.¶

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	22 11/14/19
1	Q. So looking into the cell, this is what you would
2	see head on; is that right?
3	A. Um-hmm.
4	Q. And then what’s the photo on the right?
5	A. That’s the right side of his cell that you can’t
6	see just looking straight in.
7	What, if anything, happened 8 a.m. on August 9th, 8 Q.
	2019?
9	A. That’s when Epstein’s cellmate was transferred out
10	of MCC.
11	Was his cellmate transferred out in a routine Q.
12	pre-arranged transfer?
13	A. Yes.
14	Q. Was Epstein reassigned a cellmate?
15	A. No.
16	Q. Who were the officers on duty in the SHU from the
17	afternoon of August 9th into the morning of August 10th?
18	August 9th, the 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. was A.
19	Officer Noel. Also, there was Officer and then
20	Officer
21	Q. The first officer you mentioned, is that
22
23	A. Yes.
24	Q. And we’ll refer to him as Officer 1, or
25	What time did he work on the SHU on August Officer
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		23 11/14/19
1	9th?
2	A.	He as there 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
3	Q.	And the other officer, is that
4	A.	Yes.
5	Q.	And we can refer to him as Officer 2, or
6	Officer	. What time did he work in the SHU on
7	August 9th?
8	A.	4 p.m. to 12 a.m.
9	Q.	What time did Officer Thomas, Michael Thomas, work
10		in the SHU on August 10th?
11	A.	12 a.m. to 8 a.m.
12	Q.	Who were the officers on duty in the SHU from 12
13		a.m. August 10th through 8 a.m. August 10th?
14	A.	That was Officer Noel and Officer Thomas.
15	Q.	And they were the only officers on duty; is that
16	right?
17	A.	Yes.
18	Q.	Let’s talk about the 4 p.m. institutional count on
19	August 9th.	Who was responsible for conducting the count?
20	A.	That was around the 4 p.m. would have been
21		Officer Noel and Officer
22	Q.	Based on the video review, did they conduct the
23	count?
24	A.	No.
25	Q.	Did they sign a count slip that falsely stated
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	11/14/19 24
1	that they had performed the 4 p.m. count?
2	A. Yes.
3	Q. Is that the count slip you see right here?
4	A. Yes.
5	Did the control center clear the 4 p.m. count in Q.
6	reliance on this false count slip?
7	A. Yes.
8	Q. What happened that evening?
9	A. So Epstein returned to the SHU from his attorney
10	And then at that point, he — in the SHU, he conference.
11	was escorted by Officer Noel and another officer — I
12	couldn’t quite see exactly who that was — to L-tier.
13	Q. What time was Epstein escorted back into his cell?
14	A. Approximately 7:49 p.m.
15	And the other officer, was it either Officer Q.
16	or Officer
17	A. Yes.
18	Q. Did Officer Noel and the other officer, whoever it
19	was, leave Epstein’s tier shortly thereafter?
20	A. Yes.
21	Q. Let’s talk about the 10 p.m. institutional count.
22	Who was responsible for conducting that count?
23	A. That was Officer Noel and Officer
24	Q. Did the video show that they conducted the 10 p.m.
25	count?

11/14/19 2E; 1 A. No. 2 Q. Did they sign a false count slip saying that the 3 10 p.m. count had been done? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. In reliance on that count slip, did the control 6 center clear the 10 p.m. count? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. So I want to ask you about some movement on the 9 video at either side of the 10 p.m. count, which was not 10 done. Did you see any movement at approximately 9:20? 11 A. Yes. Two officers, one being Officer Noel, were 12 moving to several of the tiers. They didn’t go to all of 13 them, but I couldn’t quite tell exactly what they were doing 14 on the tiers at that time. 15 Q. So you saw them walk up to some, but not all the 16 tiers, at about 9:20? 17 A. Um-hmm. Yes. 18 Q. Okay. And then did you see any movement again at 19 10:30? 20 A. Yes. Officer Noel, by herself, went up to each 21 tier. 22 Q. After Officer Noel — and was that brief? Did she 23 spend a brief amount of time 24 A. It was a brief amount of time, um-hmm. 25 Q. After Officer Noel walked up to each tier at FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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		26 11/14/19
1		10:30, did you see anyone else go up to Epstein’s tier after
2	10:30 p.m.?
3	A.	I did not see anyone else, no.
4	Q.	Let’s talk about the 12 a.m. count. You mentioned
5		that Officer Thomas came on duty at 12 a.m. replacing
6	Officer	is that right?
7	A.	Yes.
8	Q.	So who was responsible for conducting the 12 a.m.
9	institutional count?
10	A.	That was Officer Noel and Officer Thomas.
11	Q.	Did the video show that they conducted the 12 a.m.
12	count?
13	A.	No.
14	Q.	Did they sign and complete a false count slip
15	saying that they had completed that count?
16	A.	Yes.
17	Q.	Is that the count slip we see here?
18	A.	Yes.
19	Q.	In reliance of that false count slip, did the
20		control center clear the 12 a.m. count?
21	A.	Yes.
22	Q.	Who was responsible for conducting the 3 a.m. and
23		5 a.m. institutional counts?
24	A.	Officer Noel and Officer Thomas.
25	Q.	And that was in the SHU, correct?
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1	A.	Yes.
2	Q.	Did the video show that they completed either the
3	3 a.m.	or the 5 a.m. count?
4	A.	No.
5	Q.	They did not?
6	A.	No.
7	Q.	Did they sign and complete false count slips
8		saying that they had in fact completed the 3 a.m. and the
9	5 a.m. counts?
10	A.	Yes.
11	Q.	And are those the count slips we see here?
12	A.	Yes.
13	Q.	Did the control center, in reliance on these false
14		count slips, clear the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts?
15	A.	Yes.
16	Q.	So earlier, we saw an example of a count that wd
17	done, correct?
18	A.	Um-hmm.
19	Q.	So I’d like to play — which count is this?
20	A.	The 5 a.m.
21	Q.	On August 10; is that right? Okay.
22	A.	Yes.
23	Q.	Okay. So describe what we’re seeing.
24	A.	So in reviewing the hours 4:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.
25		this is pretty much the activity that you see during that

11/14/19 1 time. 2 Q. And that is no activity? 3 A. Right. 4 Q. Did Noel and Thomas conduct any of the required 5 30-minute rounds during their shift from 12 a.m. to 6 approximately 6:30 a.m.? 7 A. No. 8 Q. Did Noel complete and sign 30-minute round forms 9 saying that they had in fact done so? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Approximately how many false entries did she make 12 on those 30-minute round forms? 13 A. Approximately 75. 14 Q. Let’s talk about what they were doing overnight. 15 What were Noel and Thomas doing overnight when they were nor 16 doing counts or rounds? 17 A. So for the most part, they were over at the 18 correctional officers’ desk. Every now and then, you would 19 see Noel kind of — like in that previous example, around 5, 20 she would kind of get up and in that multi-purpose area, and 21 then go back over to the desk. So there was a general lack 22 of movement throughout the night. 23 Q. Were Noel and Thomas using the computers? 24 A. Yes, they were on the computer. Noel searched for 25 furniture sales and benefit websites. And then Thomas, FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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1 around 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and 6 a.m., he searched for 2 motorcycle sales and looked at sports news.¶

3 Q. At approximately 4 a.m., did anyone come into the 4 SHU?¶

5 A. Yes, one of the overnight supervisors.¶

6 Q. What happened?¶

7 A. She entered the SHU through that door 46, which is 8 off to the right of the camera view, and walked over towards 9 the desk where Noel and Thomas was. And then she left.¶

10 Q. Did any other officer come into the SHU during the 11 night?¶

12 A. There was one other officer, and that was around 13 5:30 a.m., and that officer was working in 10 South, which 14 is through that door 46. Michael Thomas had given him a 15 break, and he came into the SHU and went out of view, and 16 got some food and came back to his duty location in 17 10 South.¶

18 Q. Aside from those two and Noel and Thomas, did you 19 see anyone else in the SHU that night?¶

20 A. No.¶

21 Q. At approximately 6 a.m. on August 10th, did you 22 see any movement on the camera?¶

23 A. Yes. Usually after 6 a.m. is when the inmates in 24 the SHU are served breakfast, so there was a cart that was 25 rolled into the SHU in that multi-purpose area.¶

11/14/19 30 1 Q. And shortly after 6:30 a.m., what did you see. 2 A. Officer Noel and Officer Thomas got up from the 3 desk and they went towards L-tier. 4 Q. And that was the tier in which Epstein was housed, 5 correct? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. At 6:33 a.m., what happened? 8 A. There was an alarm that was activated in the SHU. 9 Epstein was found alone in his cell but not responsive. And 10 you can see on the camera, there is, like, a flurry of 11 activity at that time. 12 Q. Who was the first person to respond to the alarm 13 that had been activated? 14 A. It was — 15 Q. Other than Thomas and Noel? 16 A. One of the supervisors. 17 Q. What happened when the supervisor got to the SHU? 18 A. When he got to the SHU, he was approached by Noel, 19 and she told him that Epstein hung himself. 20 Q. Did the supervisor arrive within 1 to 2 minutes of 21 the alarm being activated? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. When the supervisor walked up to Epstein’s cell, 24 what did he see inside? 25 A. He saw Officer Thomas performing CPR on Epstein, FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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		11/14/19 31
1		who was on the floor.
2	Q.	Who was one of the second people to arrive at the
3	scene?	I’ll rephrase that.
4	A.	Okay.
5	Q.	In the investigation, did a law enforcement agent
6		speak to a nurse who arrived shortly after the supervisor to
7	the scene?
8	A.	Yes.
9	Q.	What did the nurse see?
10	A.	The nurse saw CPR being performed on Epstein. He
11		was on the floor, and there was a noose around his neck.
12	Q.	Did the nurse attempt to revive Epstein?
13	A.	Yes.
14	Q.	Was there any sign of life?
15	A.	No.
16	Q.	Was Epstein transferred to a hospital snort-,
17	thereafter?
18	A.	Yes.
19	Q.	What happened?
20	A.	He was pronounced dead?
21	Q.	Did the New York State Office of the Chief Medical
22		Examiner conduct an autopsy on Mr. Epstein’s body?
23	A.	Yes.
24	Q.	What did they determine?
25	A.	That Epstein died from — it was a suicide by
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11/14/19 32 1 hanging. 2 Q. When the supervisor responded to the SHU during 3 the scene that we just described where Epstein was still — 4 his body was still in the cell, did the supervisor speak 5 with Thomas and Noel? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And what happened? 8 A. Noel and Thomas basically said they were, like, we 9 messed up, we didn’t do the 3 a.m. or the 5 a.m. count. 10 Q. So what did Noel specifically say? 11 A. She said we didn’t complete the 3 a.m. or the 12 5 a.m. counts. And then Thomas said that — don’t blame 13 her, it wasn’t her fault, we messed up. 14 Q. Did Thomas also say, we didn’t do any rounds? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Special Agent you mentioned earlier that 17 you reviewed bank accounts. Did you review the bank 18 accounts, or did you or other FBI personnel review the bank 19 accounts, for Officers Thomas and Noel? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Was there any evidence that they were bribed in 22 any way? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Special Agent have you told the grand jury 25 everything you know about this case, or you merely answered FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

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1	the questions I’ve asked?
2	A. I answered the questions that you asked.
3	Q. And when you testified about conversations you had
4	with others or documents you reviewed, did you testify to
5	the exact words used or just the substance of the
6	conversations and documents?
7	A. The substance.
8	Are you willing to return to the grand jury if the Q.
9	grand jurors have any questions for you?
10	A. Yes.
11	With the Foreperson’s permission,
12	I’ll ask that Special Agent be excused.
13	FOREPERSON. Sure.
14	(Witness Excused)
15	(Time Noted: 3:01 p.m.)
16	(Colloquy Follows)
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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11/14/19 1 (Colloquy Precedes) 2 (Witness Recalled) 3 (Time Noted: 3:14 p.m.) 4 FOREPERSON. The witness is reminded that she’s 5 still under oath. 6 BY 7 Q. Special Agent you testified about the 8 existence of time stamps on the video that you discussed. 9 Focusing in particular on August 9th and August 10th. 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Did you take steps to ensure that those time 12 stamps were accurate? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And were they accurate? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Describe one of the things that you did to ensure 17 that they were accurate. 18 A. For instance, the body alarm went off at 19 approximately 6:33, and on camera, that’s where you see the 20 flurry of activity in the SHU. 21 Q. So where there are independent records of events 22 occurring, you also saw that happening on the recorded time 23 stamp of the video? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Was the video you reviewed for August 9th and 10th FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

11/14/19 35 1 continuous, or did it show any signs that it had been 2 tampered with in any way? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Yes, it was continuous? 5 A. It was continuous and did not show signs that it 6 was tampered with. 7 Q. Okay. You testified that the majority of counts 8 were actually done prior to August 9th. Did you ever see — 9 I’ll rephrase that. Was one count — more than one count 10 ever missed in a row? 11 A. No. 12 Q. And today, you testified about Noel and Thomas 13 missing five counts in a row; is that correct? 14 A. Yes, well, Noel would have missed the five, but, 15 yes. 16 Q. What do supervisors do to ensure that the counts 17 are actually done? 18 A. That’s something that they take the officer’s word 19 on. That when the officer says, I did this; they take that 20 as the truth. 21 Q. Do officers receive any training about the counts 22 and the importance of the counts? 23 A. They receive annual refresher training concerning 24 what their job duties. They have post orders posted at — 25 where they are stationed, and they are to read those. Anc FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

11/14/19 36 1 through interviews that we conducted, that was one thing 2 that many of the officers said was that the counts are 3 important, they are supposed to be done. 4 Q. What do supervisors do to ensure that the 5 30-minute rounds are done? 6 A. I’m sorry, can you — 7 Q. What do supervisors do to ensure that the 8 30-minute rounds are done? 9 A. As far as the 30-minute rounds, that is — again, 10 that’s one of the things that the supervisors are saying 11 that when my correctional officers tell me that they did 12 this, then that’s their word, they’re giving me their word 13 that they actually conducted that 30-minute round. 14 Q. You testified about reviewing the bank accounts 15 for the officers and saw no evidence that they were bribed. 16 Based on the investigation, did the investigation reveal 17 that the officers had engaged in any unusual spending 18 patterns purchased expensive items or taken any steps to 19 show that they had an influx of cash after the August 10th 20 suicide? 21 A. No. 22 Q. You saw no evidence of that? 23 A. No. 24 Q. And Special Agent just a clean-up question, 25 you’ve been testifying about a PowerPoint that I’ve marked FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902¶

Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

	11/14/19
1	Grand Jury Exhibit 1. Did you review this prior to
2	testifying?
3	A. Yes.
4	And is it accurate, and did it aid you in Q.
5	testifying here today?
6	A. Yes.
7	With that, I’ll ask for tte
8	witness to be excused.
9	FOREPERSON. Sure.
10	(Witness Excused)
11	(Time Noted: 3:18 p.m.)
12	(Colloquy Follows)
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D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

1	CERTIFICATE
2
3	I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and
4	accurate transcription, to the best of my skill and ability,
5	from my electronic notes of this proceeding.
6
7	November 15, 2019 Date
8	IIIIIIIIIIIIrJury Reporter Free State Reporting, Inc.
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3. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 UNITED STATES GRAND JURY SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -x UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -V- : November 8, 2018 Additional TOVA NEAL and MICHAEL THOMAS : (2019R01059) APPEARANCE S: -x United States Courthouse Foley Square New York, New York November 19, 2019 10:07 a.m. Assistant United States Attorney Assistant United States Attorney c lnq ran ury Reporter FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947

	2 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19
1	PROCEEDING
2	• Good morning, everyone. Thank you
3	. I’m here for being on time. My name is
4	to continue our presentation that we began last Thursday,
5	November 14, 2019. I’m here with my colleague, AUSA
6	Again, do any of you believe who is sitting behind me.
7	you know either myself or AUSA in anything other than
8	our — capacities. No? Okay.
9	As those who were here on Thursday know we are
10	here to present a proposed six-count indictment this
11	morning, which I’ve marked as Grand Jury Exhibit 2. It
12	charges Tova Noel and Michael Thomas in six counts. Noel
13	and Thomas are charged together in Count One, which is the
14	conspiracy count. Noel is charged by herself in Counts Two
15	and Three, which are the substantive counts related to the
16	4 p.m. count and the 10 p.m. count. And then Noel and
17	Thomas are charged together in Counts Three — excuse me in
18	Counts Four, Five and Six which relate to the 12 a.m. count,
19	the 3 a.m. count and the 5 a.m. count.
20	So just because a few days have elapsed I’m going
21	to just briefly go over the law again and then summarize
22	But before I do with the evidence and the testimony showed.
23	that, does anyone who was not here on Thursday believe that
24	they know Tova Noel or Michael Thomas? No? Okay.
25	This case has received a One other question.

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

	3 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19
1	considerable amount of press attention. I don’t know if any
2	of you have read any press articles about it, but I will
3	instruct you, as you know, that your duty is to consider
4	only the evidence before you. The press reporting, a news
5	article, that’s not evidence. That’s not something that you
6	can consider or it’s nothing you should consider. You’re
7	only allowed to consider the testimony of the witness that
8	you heard last week and the evidence that she described.
9	Does anyone believe that they would not be able to
10	put aside any press or media that they’ve read about this
11	case? No? Okay.
12	Before I proceed with summarizing the indictment,
13	I mentioned it’s marked as Grand Jury Exhibit 2. And then I
14	know there are a couple of you who were not here on
15	To save the rest of the grand jury the pain of Thursday.
16	rereading the hour of testimony I’m just going to mark Grand
17	Jury Exhibit 3, which is the transcript. And to the extent
18	that you’d like to vote I would suggest that you reread the
19	transcript if you’d like to do that. Otherwise, you’re free
20	to abstain from voting if you don’t feel that you could.
21	But I will note that we did have a quorum on Thursday and
22	there are at least 16 people who were present on Thursday
23	here today.
24	So let me just briefly summarize what I told you
25	last week relating to the law and the facts. So the
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19 4 defendants are charged in Count One with a conspiracy, so under 18 USC 371 and there are two objects. First object is defrauding the government, so I’ll speak about that first. First, the defendants entered into an agreement; second, to obstruct a lawful function of the government; third, by deceitful or dishonest means; and fourth, at least one overt act occurred in furtherance of the conspiracy.¶

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 So here you heard that the defendants jointly agreed not to perform the counts. And how do you know that they agreed not to perform the counts? Well number one, they admitted that they didn’t perform the counts. Number two, you heard the agent testified about what the video showed. The video showed they didn’t perform any of the counts. They were sitting at the desk, they were on their computers. Third, you heard that two officers are required to perform the counts, so thereby they agreed by neither of them doing it both of them agreed we’re not going to do the count, which both of us are required to do.¶

19 20 21 22 23 24 You also heard that both officers signed into the false count slips. So they both printed their names and they both signed it. All of that evidence, their admission, the video, the fact that both of them had to agree not to do the count, all of that shows that they entered into an agreement.¶

25¶

Second element is to obstruct a lawful function of¶

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19 5 the government. You heard the agent explain that the count is one of the most basic and essential functions of the MCC. So that they know that of the inmates in their care are alive, that no one has escaped and that everyone is accounted for. You know that they have five institutional counts a day and it’s one of the most important functions of the prison staff is to ensure that everyone there is alive and accounted for. You heard that the institutional count can’t be cleared, can’t be completed, unless each housing unit submits a true and accurate count slip reflecting how many inmates are there and that’s signed by the officers. So you heard that by submitting false count slips the officers were obstructing the MCC’s ability to ensure that each of the inmates in their care was alive and accounted for. Third element is by deceit or dishonest means. Here you heard that Noel and Thomas didn’t do the counts; the video confirmed that. And they admitted that they didn’t do the counts, yet they signed numerous false count slips saying that they had in fact completed the counts. That deceit and dishonest means. And fourth is at least one overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. So in the indictment we charged a number of overt acts, one for each of the false counts and then one overt act was the 30-minute round forms. FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

	6 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19
1	So as you heard the officers were not only required to do
2	the count, they were required to do the 30-minute rounds and
3	none of those were done. You heard that Noel falsified over
4	75 different 30-minute round entries saying that each 30-
5	minute round had been done when she had not in fact done any
6	of them.
7	So that’s Count One, that’s the first object of
8	the conspiracy.
9	The second object of the conspiracy in Count One
10	is the false documents charge, which is 18 USC 1001. That’s
11	also, if you’ll remember, the charge that’s charged in
12	Ccunts Two through Six. So I’m going to describe the
13	elements for that and you should keep in mind that these
14	elements apply to each of Counts Two through Six and then
15	the second object of the conspiracy charged in Count One.
16	So there ‘are three elements that we must prove.
17	First, that the defendant made or used a false writing or
18	document that contained a statement or entry that was false.
19	Second, the defendant acted knowingly or willfully. And
20	third, the statement or entry was material to a matter
21	within the jurisdiction of the governmental agency.
22	So the first element, the defendant made or used a
23	false writing or document that contained a statement or
24	So here this is the count slips. You entry that was false.
25	know, based on the evidence that I just summarized, the
	FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947

US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 video shows that the counts weren’t done. The defendants admitted that they didn’t do the counts, yet they created and signed count slips saying that the counts were done. That is the first element; that the defendant made or used a false writing. Second, the defendant acted knowingly or willfully. Here you heard the defendants knowingly failed to do the count and then they actually created and signed the count slips were false. That qualifies as knowingly and willfully creating a false document. Third element is the statement or entry was material to a matter within the jurisdiction of the governmental agency. Here you heard that the MCC is a federal prison that’s run by the BOP which is a federal agency. And you heard that the count slips were material to the BOP’s functioning. It’s one of the most essential aspects of the BOP’s function is to ensure that their inmates are alive and accounted for. And so by creating a false count slip they were making a material statement to the governmental agency and they were frustrating their ability to ensure that all of their inmates were alive and accounted for. So that’s it. Those are the elements that are applicable to Counts Two through Six and then the second object of the conspiracy in Count One. Would anyone like FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.¶

Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947¶

	8 US v Tova Neal and Michael Thomas 11/19/19
1	the indictment read aloud? No? As I mentioned, I’ve marked
2	it as Grand Jury Exhibit 2. Does anyone have any questions
3	about the law as I just explained it or any of the facts
	that we discussed on Thursday? No? Okay.
	So I will ask you — I’m sitting right outside.
6	If you have any questions or any doubts or if there’s
7	anything more we can do, please let me know before you vote.
8	Thank you.
9	(Time noted: 10:16 a.m.)
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EFTA02731859¶

1	CSATIFICAT
3	I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and
4	accurate transcription, to the best of my skill and ability,
5	from my electronic notes of this proceeding.
6
7	November 20, 2019_
8	Date Acting Grand Jury Reporter
9	Free State Reporting, Inc.
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