Two guards were indicted Tuesday on charges they falsified records about the night jailed financier Jeffrey Epstein died in custody while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were accused in the 20-page indictment of preparing records to make it appear as if they conducted mandatory prisoner counts in the special housing unit of Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center when in fact they had not.

The false records were filed repeatedly on the night of Aug. 9 and 10, the indictment from the Southern District of New York states.

Epstein, who was accused of trafficking dozens of girls and young women for sex at homes in Palm Beach, New York and the Caribbean, was found hanging in his MCC cell in the early hours of Aug. 10.

The city medical examiner determined Epstein died by suicide, but an expert hired by Epstein's brother claims the death was more consistent with homicide.

"The defendants had a duty to ensure the safety and security of federal inmates in their care at the Metropolitan Correctional Center," said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. "Instead, they repeatedly failed to conduct mandated checks on inmates and lied on official forms to hide their dereliction."

Epstein was transferred to suicide watch following an apparent suicide attempt July 23, but was moved back to special housing a week later. To safeguard against further attempts, he was assigned to the cell closest to the officers' desk.

Guards at the jail are required to count inmates in each housing unit and perform rounds in the special housing unit every 30 minutes to ensure every inmate is alive and accounted for.

According to the indictment, no counts or rounds were conducted between 10:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to 6:30 a.m. Aug. 10. Instead, prosecutors said, Noel and Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet and milled about the common area.

When Epstein was discovered at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 10, Noel told her supervisor that he and Thomas failed to complete their 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. rounds. According to the indictment, Thomas tried to take the blame for his colleague, saying "I messed up, she's not to blame, we didn't do any rounds."

Epstein was transferred to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Both the indictment and public statements from the U.S. attorney's office Tuesday fully endorsed the medical examiner's finding that Epstein had committed suicide by hanging. But prosecutors also publicly laid out, for the first time, details about how security at the special housing unit would have functioned on the night of Epstein's death.

MCC's special housing unit, or SHU, the indictment said, is divided into six separate tiers on the jail's ninth floor. Each tier, the filing said, features eight cells, capable of holding two prisoners each.

According to the indictment, access to the SHU is controlled by a locked door that can only be opened by a guard at MCC's control center on the first floor. A second locked door can only be accessed by guards who are assigned to the SHU and carry keys while on duty.

Epstein's cellmate was moved out of the jail Aug. 9 for a "routine, pre-planned transfer," the indictment said. Despite instruction from the prison's psychology staff, no new inmate was assigned to Epstein's cell in the other man's absence.

Prosecutors said Noel and Thomas, the only two officers working the overnight shift, were required to conduct five institutional checks and complete corresponding paperwork. The indictment said surveillance video showed Epstein returning to his cell following an attorney visit. Noel and an undisclosed officer never conducted the required count at 10 p.m. when cells were locked down for the night.

The two guards nonetheless completed their reports without entering the tier where Epstein was housed.

"As confirmed by video obtained from the MCC's internal video surveillance system, this was the last time anyone, including any correctional officer, walked up to, let alone entered, the only entrance to the tier in which Epstein was housed until approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10," the indictment said.

Thomas replaced the undisclosed officer around 10 p.m. as the only other guard on duty in the SHU. Prosecutors alleged Noel and Thomas submitted two fake slip counts and signed 75 entries falsely certifying they conducted their rounds at the required intervals after the shift change.

"Completing rounds to verify inmate counts and certifying the accuracy of logs are important tasks to ensure the safety and security of institutions and the well-being of inmates," said Guido Modano, the special agent in charge of the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. "Those who shirk their duties but falsely state they have completed them place the institution, fellow employees, inmates and the public at risk."

In a news release, prosecutors said Noel and Thomas surrendered to authorities Tuesday morning. Both face multiple counts of falsifying records and conspiring to defraud the government by impeding the functioning of MCC.

Thomas, who has served as a corrections officer since 2007, faces six counts, and Noel, who has worked at MCC since 2016, was charged with four counts.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebekah Donaleski and Nicolas Roos.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said he did not know who was representing the defendants. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.

|

Read more: