Epstein’s guards arrested

Federal prosecutors charged the guards on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein died with falsifying prison records and conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to an indictment released Tuesday. The guards should have checked on Epstein, a well-connected billionaire financier in jail on sex trafficking charges, every 30 minutes because he had tried to kill himself. They found Epstein dead in his cell the morning of Aug. 10 with a noose around his neck. Medical examiners have ruled his death a suicide.

What are the guards accused of doing? Prosecutors say Tova Noel and Michael Thomas “sat at their desk, browsed the internet,” and even appeared to take a nap throughout their shift. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement that the guards “lied on official forms to hide their dereliction.” The guards pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read Lynde Langdon’s report in Muse on how the media failed to report on the Epstein story years before it blew up.