Subject: MCC¶
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 14:48:56 +0000¶
Yesterday afternoon, OIG, FBI, and the USAO-SDNY conducted voluntary interviews with the following MCC employees. The interviews were each about 2 hours. A high-level summary of each is below.¶
Interview of¶
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is an operations lieutenant at MCC, and is responsible for overseeing the operations of the prison during his duty shifts.
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On the morning of August 10, 2019, arrived at 5:30 a.m. to relieve the outgoing lieutenant, At 6:33 a.m. heard a radio call for medical staff at the SHU. responded to the SHU, where he saw Officer Noel, who said that Epstein had hung himself. went into Epstein’s cell, and Epstein was on the ground, on top of two mattresses, and Officer was performing CPR. Lt. Jean then started CPR until medical staff came.
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asked Officer where Epstein’s cellmate was, and she said he left, and that he didn’t have one overnight. told Officer that she knew Epstein was supposed to have a cellmate, and Officer Noel stuttered, then said she didn’t know.
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Officer admitted to hat they did not conduct the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts; and Officer said “we messed up” and “we didn’t do the counts” and “it’s not her fault.” was not aware the cameras were not working in SHU.
Interview of¶
- has worked at the MCC since May 2019, but has a lengthy BOP career. He’s the institution duty officer and has responsibilities relating to multiple units. Among other things, he helps inmates make telephone calls, including legal calls and calls from within the SHU.
| - | had spoken to Epstein briefly on multiple occasions. Epstein asked for assistance making a personal call. |
| got Epstein his pin number a few days before Epstein’s death, but Epstein had not activated it. |
took Epstein to the SHU showers to make the phone call. Epstein told he was calling his mother. dialed a number provided by Epstein, and overhead Epstein making small talk with a male individual. whose shift was over, left Epstein with two SHU officers – Officer and a male officer – and told them to return Epstein to his cell after 15 minutes. Because Epstein’s pin was not activated, dialed the number on the MCC line for legal conversations. which is not recorded.¶
- was not on duty when Epstein’s body was discovered. He says he was not aware that Epstein’s cellmate had moved, and he did not know the camera system was not working.
Interview of¶
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oversees the whole prison, and all of the lieutenants of particular units (such as SHU) report to him.
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stated that on multiple occasions following Epstein’s apparent attempted suicide, he spoke to the lieutenants that report to him about how Epstein needed a cellmate at all times. All of those commands were made orally.
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said they were aware that had court, which was not out of the ordinary. No one briefed him on the fact that personal property was being collected or that he was moved.
| - | did not learn that Epstein's cellmate moved until after Epstein's apparent suicide was discovered. |
| - | was not working when the evening rounds and counts occurred. He was aware there was work being done on the videos but wasn't told why. |
FBI and OIG agents also attempted to interview and (the officers who discovered Epstein), but they did not agree to speak with agents and agents were unable to serve the subpoenas. (An individual who the agents believe was answered the phone but then claimed he wasn’t and hung up.) Agents also contacted four of the officers on duty on Friday August 9, 2019, but they would not speak with agents without their union representatives.¶
EFTA00070037¶
EFTA00070038¶