OFFICIAL

Judge Approves No-Jail Deal for Jail Guards Who Slept Through Epstein’s Suicide

The deal means Tova Noel and Michael Thomas will have to perform 100 hours of community service, be monitored for six months, and cooperate with the feds.

A New York judge on Tuesday approved a deferred prosecution deal for the two federal jail guards who failed to monitor sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on August 2019 when he killed himself—and then lied about it afterward to cover their tracks. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were charged in November 2019 with falsifying prison records to cover up their dereliction of duty after falling asleep on the job at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, 2019, instead of performing rounds every 30 minutes. The agreement approved by Judge Analisa Torres means the pair will avoid a conviction and jail time. Noel and Thomas, however, will be forced to perform 100 hours of community service, be under supervised release for six months, and cooperate with a Justice Department watchdog review of Epstein’s death. “After a thorough investigation, and based on the facts of this case and the personal circumstances of the defendants, the Government has determined that the interests of justice will best be served by deferring prosecution,” prosecutors wrote in a May 21 letter about the deal.