MEMORANDUM FOR MICHAEL E. HOROWITZ, INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE¶
FROM: Warden (Retired)¶
SUBJECT: Response to Draft for the Office of Inspector General Investigation (OIG) of Jeffrey Epstein Suicide¶
On Wednesday April 5, 2023, I reviewed the OIG draft report for the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York, New York. The draft stated that I used poor judgement in not selecting a backup cellmate for Jeffrey Epstein while he was housed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU).¶
MCC New York is a pre-trial institution. The majority of the inmates housed at the facility are not designated and the facility had one designated unit that housed approximately seventy inmates. Pre-trial and designated inmates cannot be housed together. Mr. Epstein was housed in the SHU. The SHUs are housing units in Bureau institutions where inmates are securely separated from general inmate population, and may be housed either alone or with other inmates. Special Housing Units help ensure the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities, and protect the public, by providing alternative housing assignments for inmates removed from general population.¶
Prior to placing Mr. Epstein in the SHU, we vetted several inmates as potential cellmates for him. There was only one inmate that was identified as an appropriate cellmate. The inmates in SHU were constantly being moved to other units, being transferred, or released on a daily basis. We were constantly monitoring the inmate population in SHU for Mr. Epstein’s safety and potential cell mates. Based on the mission of the institution, the constant movement of inmates out of SHU, along with the number of inmates that posed a threat to his safety, there were no potential backup inmates to be housed with Mr. Epstein during the period he was housed in the SHU.¶
Thank you for your time and consideration in reviewing my response.¶
Respectfully submitted,¶
EFTA00035914¶