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DE P AR T MEN T O F J US TI C E | O FFIC E O F T HE INSP EC TO R GE NER AL
“A Message from the Inspector General: Investigation and Review on the BOP’s Custody, Care, and
Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York,” June
2023
Hello, I’m Michael Horowitz, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Today my office released a report on the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or BOP’s, custody, care, and supervision
of inmate Jeffrey Epstein at the MCC New York. On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found hanged in his locked
cell within the prison’s secure Special Housing Unit. The New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner determined that Epstein died by suicide.
Today’s report follows numerous other OIG reports, unrelated to Epstein, that have repeatedly identified
long-standing operational challenges at the BOP that negatively affect its ability to operate institutions safely
and securely. Today’s report identified many of these same operational challenges, including significant job
performance and management failures on the part of BOP personnel; widespread disregard of BOP policies;
and deficiencies with the BOP’s staffing levels; security camera systems; and custody and care of inmates at
risk for suicide.
For example, we determined that MCC New York staff failed to ensure Epstein was assigned a cellmate as
instructed by MCC New York’s Psychology Department following an incident on July 23rd where Epstein was
found unresponsive in his cell with a cloth wrapped around his neck. In addition, we concluded that MCC
New York staff failed to undertake required measures designed to ensure Epstein and other inmates were
accounted for and safe in their cells, such as inmate counts and rounds, and searches of cells. Had Epstein's
cell been searched as required, it would have revealed that Epstein had excess prison blankets, linens, and
clothing in his cell. MCC New York staff also failed to ensure that the institution’s security camera system
was fully functional, resulting in limited recorded video evidence.
While we determined MCC New York staff engaged in significant misconduct, we did not uncover evidence
contradicting the FBI’s determination that there was no criminality in connection with how Epstein died.
The combination of negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures documented in today’s
report all contributed to an environment in which arguably one of the most notorious inmates in BOP’s
custody was left unmonitored and alone in his cell with an excess of prison linens, thereby providing him
with the opportunity to take his own life. The BOP’s failures are troubling not only because the BOP did not
adequately safeguard an individual in its custody, but also because they led to questions about the
circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death and effectively deprived Epstein’s numerous victims of the
opportunity to seek justice through the criminal justice system.
The fact that these chronic problems and failures have been recurring ones does not excuse them, and
gives additional urgency to the need for DOJ and BOP leadership to address them.
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To read our report and our 8 recommendations, please visit our website oig.justice.gov, or go to
oversight.gov.
Thank you for joining me today.
(Stock media provided by composer William Pearson and publisher Prolific Two Publishing/Pond5.com,
www.pond5.com.)