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I’m sure you’re inundated with inquiries right now, so I apologize for adding to your load. You may remember that we had consulted with you and BOP HQ regarding conditions at the MCC and MDC in connection with defendant Jabir Motiwala’s opposition to extradition from the UK. Following Jeffrey Epstein’s death, Motiwala has filed an additional report by former-warden and attached news articles about the conditions at the MCC.¶
The attorneys in the UK handling the extradition have asked for our response. They recognize that we may not be able to address all of their questions in light of ongoing investigations, but is there any information we can provide with respect to the following (or could you let us know the proper person/people to talk to)?¶
i. With regards to the warden of the MCC and two staff members whom are said to have been reassigned since the death of Mr Epstein, are you able to confirm that their roles have been filled with suitable alternatives? In particular please provide any information about the knowledge and experience of the new warden that you are able to. [page 1, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
ii. Is it possible to comment on the decision to take Mr Epstein off suicide watch and whether either, that decision was justified in the circumstances or if considered to be the wrong decision, that new measures are now in place to ensure any mistakes are not repeated. Please detail any new measures on this particular issue now in place if you are able to. [page 2, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
iii. Can you provide any explanation as to why Mr Epstein did not have a new inmate sharing his cell in the Special Housing Unit (“SHU”) on 9 August 2019 after his other cellmate was¶
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moved? Do you accept that there should have been someone sharing his cell in light of his recent apparent suicide attempt? If so, have any new protocols been put in place to ensure this does not happen again? If you do not accept that this occurred or cannot comment on this directly, what general measures are in place to ensure people who have been moved to the SHU following a suicide attempt share a cell with others where possible? [page 2, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
iv.¶
Is it correct that the two correctional officers due to be carrying out half-hourly checks on Mr Epstein did not carry out any check upon him for a period of several hours before he was discovered in his cell and were instead sleeping? If you accept this is correct what steps have been taken, if any, to prevent this occurring in future? If you do not accept that this occurred or cannot comment on this directly, what general measures are in place to monitor those who have been moved to the SHU following a suicide attempt, and how is it ensured that those measures are safely carried out by staff members? [page 2/3, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
Is it correct that the correctional officers concerned falsified records in regards to the checks they should have carried out? If you accept this is correct what steps have been taken if any to prevent this occurring in future? If you do not accept that this occurred or cannot comment on this directly, what general measures if any are in place to ensure correctional officers do not falsify records and carry out their duties as required with regards to those who have been moved to the SHU following a suicide attempt? [page 3,¶
Report, dated 22 August 2019].¶
Ms, as well as a number of news reports, state that of the two staff members assigned to monitor Mr Epstein, one of them was not usually a corrections officer but rather was employed by the warehouse and had volunteered to work an extra shift. If you accept this is correct, do you consider it to be appropriate to have such staff members carrying out that type of task and if so what measures are in place to ensure they are able to carry out that particular role safely? If you do not accept that this occurred or cannot comment on this directly, what general measures if any are in place to ensure staff members who do not usually work as correctional officers carry out the task of monitoring those who have been moved to the SHU following a suicide attempt in a safe manner?¶
[page 3, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
vii. In a news article, it is said that the BOP had tried to address staffing shortages “in part by using a practice called augmentation to temporarily assign employees who aren’t corrections officers to staff posts intended for detention guards”. Do you accept that this occurred at the MCC? If so, is this practice still in place and what general measures if any are in place to ensure staff members who do not usually work as correctional officers are able to safely carry out the work of correctional officers, (for example do they receive special training on security or monitoring prisoners considered to be a suicide risk). [CNN Politics Website, “Union and lawmakers have long warned of ‘dire’ federal prison staffing shortages”, 14 August 2019]¶
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Ms, as well as a number of news reports, state that of the two staff members assigned to monitor Mr Epstein, one of them (the corrections officer) had been working overtime and the other staff member was in the midst of an 80 hour week. Do you agree that many of the correctional officers at the MCC are required to work 60-70 hour weeks and if so what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that the prison is still run safely and suicidal prisoners are properly monitored? [page 3, Report, dated 22 August 2019]¶
ix. Ms further states that the MCC is currently operating with less than 70% of the needed correctional officers. Do you accept that the MCC is operating with less than 70% of the needed correctional officers and if not, how would you describe the current staffing levels? If you agree that the MCC is 70% staffed, what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that the prison is still run safely and suicidal prisoners are properly monitored? [page 3, Report, dated 22 August 2019].¶
x. Ms states that the MCC was designed to house 474 inmates but that on the day of Mr Epstein’s death its population was 763. Do you agree with those figures, and if so is the prison able to safely house that sized population, and what measures, if any, are in place to deal with a prison population of that size and ensure the conditions they are housed in remain humane? [page 14, Report, dated 22 August 2019].¶
xi. Ms states the following with regards to the sanitation conditions at MCC:¶
“Three current MCC Staff Members very recently described to me the current sanitation conditions at the facility. One stated, “The facility is so disgusting it’s like a prison in a third-world country. Cleaning supplies are not issued on a regular basis.” The individual further advised, “Pest Control is horrible and ineffective, rats, mice and bugs are everywhere.” Another Correctional Officer told me, “There are mice and bugs everywhere including inmates’ cells.” This information is consistent with my Court testimony on July 3, 2019, and my assessment in Paragraph 20 of my Declaration in the case of Mr. Motiwala. Further, it corroborates the many news reports, regarding the “rodent-infested MCC.”¶
Do you have any comment to make on those observations? [page 15, Report, dated 22 August 2019].¶
xii. Ms further states:¶
“On a different, yet equally concerning topic, an MCC Correctional Officer advised me this past week, that there is blatant racial discord within the institution, especially amongst Correctional Officers. I did not witness this when I was Warden at MCC and my contact advises it began a short time following my departure.”¶
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attitude, and my contact address it began a short time following my departure.¶
Do you have any comment to make on those observations? [page 15, Report, dated 22 August 2019].¶
xiii. One news article referred to the fact that there was only one psychiatrist shared between the MCC and the other federal prison in New York, and a “handful of psychologists on the staff”. It further states that conversations between psychologists and individuals on suicide watch occur “through a slot in the door” rather than in person. Is it still the case that there is a single psychiatrist shared between the MCC and the MDC? Do you agree with the characterisation that there are a handful of psychologists and consultations are carried out through a slot in the door? Have any changes or improvements been made to psychiatric and psychological care provision and staffing in the wake of the death of Mr Epstein or are any planned in the near future? Do you have any comment to make on the observations made generally? [News article “Jeffrey Epstein jail ‘a gulag’ in lower Manhattan”, 12 August 2019]¶
Our response is due to the UK September 16.¶
Thank you so much,¶
Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York One Saint Andrew’s Plaza New York, New York 10007¶
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