Jeffrey Epstein's jail guards avoid prison
Two jail guards who admitted to falsifying records on the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself won a federal judge's approval on Tuesday to end the criminal case against them and let them avoid prison.
The defendants, Michael Thomas - seen here leaving the courthouse last year - and Tova Noel had been accused of falling asleep, shopping online and checking sports news rather than checking on Epstein every 30 minutes at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan.
Epstein, who had pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges, was found hanging in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019. New York City's medical examiner called his death a suicide.
The agreement requires Noel and Thomas to serve six months of supervised release and complete 100 hours of community service.
They must also cooperate with a probe by the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general looking into the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death.
The probe began under then-Attorney General William Barr, who was angered that a high-profile inmate like Epstein was able to kill himself.
