Document 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1

Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 4 of 20 keys while on duty. Within the SHU, inmates are assigned to six separate tiers, each of which can be accessed only via a single locked door to which the correctional officers assigned to the SHU have keys while on duty. Each tier has eight cells, each of which can house either one or two prisoners, and each individual cell - which is made of cement and metal - is accessed only through a single locked door, to which only correctional officers assigned to the SHU have keys while on duty. 7. The BOP requires correctional officers assigned to guard inmates at the MCC to conduct institution-wide counts of inmates at regular, scheduled intervals to ensure that each inmate is alive and accounted for within the MCC (the "institutional count"). On weekdays, the MCC conducts five institutional counts at 4 p.m., 10 p.m., 12 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m. Performing an institutional count is one of the most basic and essential aspects of a correctional officer's job, and the count is one of the most basic and essential functions of daily operation of the MCC. Two officers are required to perform the institutional count for each housing unit, including the SHU, and are further required to document their performance of the count on an official MCC form called a count slip. To perform the institutional count in the SHU, two officers must walk from tier to tier to observe and count each individual inmate. 4 DOJ-OGR-00021911 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 11 of 20 at approximately 3:24 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the Control Center cleared the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts, respectively. 23. Moreover, despite the requirement that officers on duty in the SHU conduct and document regular, 30-minute rounds, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, did not perform any of the required 30-minute rounds during their shift between approximately 12 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Nonetheless, NOEL completed and signed more than 75 separate 30-minute round entries falsely affirming that they had, in fact, conducted such rounds. 24. During the night, instead of completing the required counts and rounds, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, were seated at the correctional officers' desk in the SHU common area (as noted above, approximately 15 feet from Epstein's cell), used the computers, and moved around the SHU common area. For a period of approximately two hours, NOEL and THOMAS sat at their desk without moving, and appeared to have been asleep. NOEL used the computer periodically throughout the night, including to search the internet for furniture sales and benefit websites. THOMAS used the computer briefly around 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and 6 a.m. to search for motorcycle sales and sports news. 25. At approximately 4 a.m., the overnight supervisor briefly visited NOEL and THOMAS in the SHU, and conferred with NOEL and THOMAS, who were seated at and around the officers' desk, 11 DOJ-OGR-00021918 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 13 of 20 27. Epstein was transferred to a local hospital where he was declared dead shortly thereafter. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York conducted an autopsy and determined that Epstein had committed suicide by hanging himself. STATUTORY ALLEGATIONS COUNT ONE (Conspiracy) The Grand Jury charges: 28. The Grand Jury incorporates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment as though fully set forth herein. 29. In or about August 2019, in the Southern District of New York, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, knowingly conspired with each other to: a. Knowingly defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of a department or agency of the United States, to wit, the MCC's function to ensure the care, custody, and control of its inmate population. b. Knowingly make and use a false writing or document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any 13 DOJ-OGR-00021920 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 14 of 20 dpartment or agency of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 (a) (3). 30. In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effect the illegal objects thereof, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, committed the following overt acts, among others, in the Southern District of New York: a. On August 10, 2019, NOEL and THOMAS falsely certified, on an MCC count slip, that they had performed the 12 a.m. institutional count of the SHU, when they had not in fact done so. b. On August 10, 2019, NOEL and THOMAS falsely certified, on an MCC count slip, that they had performed the 3 a.m. institutional count of the SHU, when they had not in fact done so. c. On August 10, 2019, NOEL and THOMAS falsely certified, on an MCC count slip, that they had performed the 5 a.m. institutional count of the SHU at MCC, when they had not in fact done so. d. On August 10, 2019, NOEL falsely certified that she and THOMAS had performed a series of 30-minute rounds of the SHU between 12 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., when they had not in fact done so. (Title 18, United States Code, Section 371) 14 DOJ-OGR-00021921 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 15 of 20 COUNT TWO (False Records - 4 p.m. Count) The Grand Jury further charges: 31. The Grand Jury incorporates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment as though fully set forth herein. 32. On or about August 9, 2019, in the Southern District of New York, TOVA NOEL, the defendant, willfully and knowingly did make and use a false writing or document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States, and did attempt to do the same, to wit, NOEL created, signed, and submitted to the MCC a materially false count slip indicating that she had performed the 4 p.m. institutional count of the SHU, when she had not in fact done so. (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001(a)(3) and 2) COUNT THREE (False Records - 10 p.m. Count) The Grand Jury further charges: 33. The Grand Jury incorporates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment as though fully set forth herein. 15 DOJ-OGR-00021922 --- PAGE BREAK --- Case 1:19-cr-00830-AT Document 1 Filed 11/19/19 Page 16 of 20 34. On or about August 9, 2019, in the Southern District of New York, TOVA NOEL, the defendant, willfully and knowingly did make and use a false writing or document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States, and did attempt to do the same, to wit, NOEL created, signed, and submitted to the MCC a materially false count slip indicating that she had performed the 10 p.m. institutional count of the SHU, when she had not in fact done so. (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001(a)(3) and 2) COUNT FOUR (False Records - 12 a.m. Count) The Grand Jury further charges: 35. The Grand Jury incorporates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment as though fully set forth herein. 36. On or about August 10, 2019, in the Southern District of New York, TOVA NOEL and MICHAEL THOMAS, the defendants, willfully and knowingly did make and use a false writing or document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper 16 DOJ-OGR-00021923