FD-302 (Rev. 5-8-10)¶
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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION¶
Date of entry 09/03/2019¶
OF PRISONS, Position Lieutenant, was interviewed by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) and AUSA on 08/29/2019 in New York, New York 10007. Also present for the interview was Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent (SA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) SA. After being advised of the identities of the interviewing personnel, and the nature of the interview, voluntarily provided the following information:¶
Prior to employment with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), was a paralegal at Law Firm. He worked litigation, pro bono, mergers and acquisitions for approximately ten years. has also been an enlisted NAVY Reservist for the last twenty years. was employed as a Corrections Officer with BOP in June 1999 at the Metropolitan Detention Center, hereinafter referred to as MDC. transitioned to the BOP Metropolitan Corrections Center, hereinafter referred to as MCC, on 10/05/2013. He was later promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 07/08/2018.¶
was the Special Housing Unit’s, hereinafter referred to as SHU, Lieutenant for approximately 90 days since Lieutenants rotate throughout MCC every 90 days. Accoring to his duties and responsibilities were as follows:¶
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Control max wing (10 South) and oversee the regular SHU
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Supervise employees
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Control moves
Oversee Segregation Reviews, hereinafter referred to as SROs¶
Investigation on 08/29/2019 at New York, New York, United States (In Person)¶
Date drafted 08/30/2019¶
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency. SDNY_00008067¶
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FD-302a (Rev. 5-8-10)¶
Continuation of FD-302 of (U) Interview of EMPLOYEE 24, On 08/29/2019, Page 2 of 3¶
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Ensure inmates are given “what they have coming”
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“A lot”
is generally the Monday - Friday 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. shift supervisor.¶
advised that there is mandatory quarterly training in the SHU program for BOP emnployees. He also reviews 292 Forms which track an inmate’s meals, recreation, medical attention, and showers. 292 Forms populate the BOP system, BOPware. Every SHU inmate has an associated 292 Form as long as they’re in the SHU population. Once they rotate to another population the form is invalid and no longer exists. Medical personnel visit the SHU twice a day for rounds in the mornings and evenings. regularly audits 292 Forms from the previous day.¶
advised that accountability of inmates is important. He never caught anyone intentionally not doing their job. Also reviews “round forms” and searches for red flags. These could be missing spaces, missing signatures, etc. If caught, approaches the individual and requests an explanation.¶
was the SHU Lieutenant when EPSTEIN was assigned. EPSTEIN wasn’t originally in the SHU. advised EPSTEIN was in 10S lower, this population is for inmates not on 10S but high profile. EPSTEIN was assigned to cell 201 in the SHU. During their first encounter, EPSTEIN asked “am I going to get out of here?”. remembers EPSTEIN frequenting the attorney conference area for long periods of time.¶
advised that at one point during the beginning, at a meeting with MCC executive management, they wanted to house EPSTEIN with a bunkie. doesn’t recall exactly who requested this action however he remembers they were trying to identify an inmate. Ultimately, they decided to house EPSTEIN with wasn’t asked for his input and followed executive management orders. There was an incident on 07/23/2019 between the two, but it didn’t occur on shift. He heard about it the next day. Lieutenant completed the 583 packet, which included memos and photos resulting from the incident.¶
recalls interacting with EPSTEIN on watch. EPSTEIN stated “I don’t want to be here” and “I’m not going to hurt myself”. also remembers¶
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FD-302a (Rev. 5-8-10)¶
, On 08/29/2019 , Page 3 of 3¶
feeding EPSTEIN.¶
The BOP psychologist said that EPSTEIN must be housed with a cell mate when he returned to the SHU. provided cell mate recommendations but they were still deciding on an individual when left the institution that night. called to ensure that he received a bunkie. BOP decision-makers chose .¶
remembers EPSTEIN requesting to make a phone call to his daughter.¶
doesn’t do phone calls because he is unaware of every inmate’s restricted contact list.¶
informed his direct subordinate that EPSTEIN needed another bunkie. They were short staffed that day. replied with “I got it”. The next morning he had a bunkie. Inmates receive bunkies when they come off suicide watch. It’s common practice in BOP. This is clearly communicated in suicide watch training, it’s posted throughout the area, and it’s also institutional knowledge.¶
EPSTEIN had a bunkie on 08/08/2019. is unaware of anything other than that because he wasn’t working. REYES was EPSTEIN’s bunkie when left work. EPSTEIN was down in an attorney conference as well. communicated the message regarding a bunkie to . He didn’t speak to anyone else about it because he expected to disseminate it to his subordinates. There were no other emails, or communications, regarding the matter. The message was spread by word of mouth.¶
advised that Corrections Officer THOMAS and Corrections Officer Noel know that inmates on suicide watch are housed with a bunkie. If EPSTEIN were spotted alone in his cell, expects that it would be reported to the shift supervisor. If an inmate left “WAB”, would still expect his corrections officers to notify him of the vacancy.¶
noted that they were short-staffed. also advised that Corrections Officer THOMAS didn’t receive the training.¶
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