(Photo Credit: Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)

Epstein’s guards to be questioned and possibly charged

Two of the prison guards who were supposed to be monitoring Jeffrey Epstein when he committed suicide in his cell are facing charges for their role in his death. Epstein, a billionaire financier and political donor accused of sexually assaulting scores of underage girls, was in prison on sex trafficking charges.

Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner, although his estate disputes the findings and representatives for Epstein have implied he was murdered. Prosecutors allege that two of the guards who were supposed to monitor Epstein falsified documents to make it look like they had checked on him regularly.

Prosecutors said they were offering the two guards a plea deal.

“The guards on Epstein’s unit are suspected of failing to check on him every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had,” the Associated Press reported last week. “As part of the proposed plea deal, prosecutors wanted the guards to admit they falsified the prison records, according to the people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.”

The prison blamed under-staffing, saying the two guards did not have time to check on Epstein every thirty minutes, as they were required to do while he was on suicide watch.