A Manhattan federal judge on Monday set an April 30 trial date for two Metropolitan Correctional Center employees charged with falsifying records the night Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody, as attorneys for the accused decried a lack of accountability in the federal prison system.

Montell Figgins, who is representing defendant Michael Thomas, told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York that he wanted to see the results of an inspector general report, which he said could shed light on "conditions and supervision and policies" at the jail around the time of Epstein's death in August, while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

After the hearing, Figgins said his client was being used as a "scapegoat" for broader "systemic issues" at the federal Bureau of Prisons. Particularly, Figgins raised questions about staffing at MCC and why Epstein, the prominent Manhattan and South Florida-based financier, was left in a cell by himself in the jail's special housing unit, instead of with a cellmate.