Full Text
Figure 5.2
Sign Created by the Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge
MANADATORY ROUNDS MUST BE CONDUCTED EVERY 30 MINUTES ON EPSTEIN #76318-054 AS PER GOD!!!!
Note: The image has been modified for privacy reasons.
Source: BOP
The Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge told the OIG that Noel filled out the round sheet on behalf of everyone who was working in the SHU during his shift. The Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge was not certain if all of the rounds were actually conducted. The Material Handler said he believed the rounds listed on the round sheet as having occurred between 4:01 p.m. to 7:36 p.m. probably had been done, but he was uncertain about the remaining rounds. The Material Handler said he had seen officers "blow off" 30-minute rounds in the past. Noel told the OIG that, as a general practice, when the COs went to the various SHU tiers to distribute food or supplies, they counted that as a round. Noel said she was aware that she was supposed to conduct two rounds every hour during their shift, but that she had never actually completed rounds every 30 minutes while working in the SHU. When asked which rounds she conducted on August 9, 2019, Noel responded, "That's hard for me to tell because I didn't conduct it every 30 minutes. It was give out food, pick up the trays, give out toilet paper, go down. So those were the rounds I conducted." Noel verified that her initials were on the round sheets for August 9 and 10, 2019, and said, consistent with her usual practice, she filled out the round sheets and initialed the round sheets at the start of the 4 p.m. and the 12 a.m. shifts.
Noel and Thomas both admitted to the OIG that they did not conduct any of the rounds reflected on the SHU Round Sheet on August 10, 2019, from 12 a.m. until Epstein was found hanged in his cell at approximately 6:30 a.m. Nonetheless, Noel completed and signed more than 75 separate 30-minute entries stating that she and Thomas had, in fact, conducted such rounds.41 Through review and analysis of the SHU video footage, witness statements, and BOP records, the OIG determined that Noel and Thomas did not enter the tiers in the SHU to conduct any of the rounds and counts between 12 a.m. and approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10. Noel and Thomas can be seen at the SHU Officers' Station, moving in the SHU common area, and in the SHU laundry and entrance/exit area throughout the morning of August 10. Additionally, from approximately 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., Noel and Thomas were seated at the SHU Officers' Station without moving and appeared to be sleeping. OIG analysis of the activity on the SHU computers revealed that Noel used the computer periodically throughout the night, including to search the Internet for furniture sales and benefit websites and to read a news article about Epstein. Thomas used the computer briefly around 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. to search for motorcycle sales and sports news.
Noel told the OIG that she went through each tier in the SHU at approximately 10 p.m., and at the time she went to Epstein's cell and saw him laying on a mattress on the floor, which she said was typical for him. Epstein asked Noel for his medical device, so she plugged it in for him. Noel saw that Epstein was in the cell by himself and without a cellmate, but she maintained that she did not know that Epstein was required to have a cellmate. Noel told the OIG that Epstein's cell was approximately 15 feet away from the SHU Officers'
41 Each of the 6 tiers in the SHU had a separate round sheet, each of which had 13 entries reflecting 30-minute rounds were conducted, when they were not, in fact, completed.