EFTA02729994

On August 12, 2019, LIEUTENANT I, was interviewed at 290 Broadway New York, NY. Present at the interview were FBI Special Agent Hannah Kuhrt, FBI Special Agent Office of the Inspector General Special Agent and Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) a. After being advised of the identity of the interviewing Agents and AUSA and the nature of the interview, Lt. provided the following information: Lt. has worked at MCC for 17 years. =was promoted to Lieutenant in 2014 or 2015. works approximately 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. As part of his operational duties, is responsible for running the building, supervising core staff, and handling situations that come up with the inmates. The hierarchy within MCC is as follows: Warden, Associate Warden, Captain and Lieutenant. There are GS-11 Lieutenants and GS-9 Lieutenants. GS-11 Lieutenants supervise GS-9 Lieutenants. Lt.= is a GS- 11 Lieutenant. Corrections Officers (CO) are below GS-9 Lieutenants. The Special Housing Unit (SHU) has its own lieutenant. The SHU lieutenant is responsible for handling any problems that arise within SHU to include issues with staff as well as inmates. If there are no problems, the SHU lieutenant does not have to check in all the time. However, the SHU lieutenant must sign in to the SHU signature log at some point during his or her shift. MCC staff are required to fill out 30 minute check in sheets. The time of the check and the signature of the CO who conducted the check are documented on the check in sheet. The times are not always exactly 30 minutes apart to prevent inmates from learning a pattern of when the CO will come by. COs must also conduct and official count which is different from the 30 minute check in. The official count is conducted at l0pm, 12am, 3am, and Sam. A signed count sheet certifies that rounds were made and each inmate was in his cell at that time. On weekend days, there is a 10am count where inmates are required to stand up in their cells during the count. During the week, the 10pm count requires COs to ensure the inmate moves. A Lieutenant has to be present for at least one of the 12am, 3am or Sam counts. Both the check in sheets and the count sheets are kept for 30 days in a binder. An El sheet is kept in the control center and has the inmates count as well as each inmate's physical location. The El sheet must match the count sheet. The CO who conducts the count must call in to the control center to report the number and a Lieutenant can only sign off on the count sheet when the number on the count sheet matches the number on the El sheet. JEFFREY EPSTEIN (EPSTEIN, previously identified) was housed in SHU. EPSTEIN met with his lawyers everyday between 8am and 8pm on the third floor of MCC. was not present when EPSTEIN was first placed on suicide watch on July 23, 2019. knew EPSTEIN was on suicide watch because EPSTEIN was wearing a smock and only inmates who are on suicide watch wear smocks. was also not present when the decision to remove EPSTEIN from suicide watch was made. According to policy, when an inmate in taken off of suicide watch he is placed on psychological observation for a period of time before he can be placed back in either SHU or in the general population. Regardless of whether or not an inmate is on suicide watch or under psychological evaluation EFTA02729994 observation, the inmate is required to have a "bunkie" or a cellmate. This is well known and considered "basic 101" policy information. did not work Friday August 9, 2019.= relieved Lt. another GS-11 Lieutenant at MCC, at 5:30am on Saturday August 10, 2019. was in his office on the 3rd floor from 5:30am until approximately 6:33am when he heard a call for a medical emergency on the 9th floor.= immediately went to the 9th floor. EPSTEIN's cell was the first cell to the right of the elevator. When MI arrived at EPSTEIN's cell, he saw two COs, Office and Officer . EPSTEIN was lying down on two mattresses on the floor of the cell. Officer was next to EPSTEIN's body attempting to administer CPR. Officer NOEL was standing by the entrance to the cell and told "EPSTEIN hung himself." pushed Officer off of EPSTEIN and continued CPR. asked for someone to get an AED and call for the Duty Nurse. The Duty Nurse arrived and took over administering CPR to EPSTEIN.= saw a noose fabricated out of bed sheets but could not recall if the noose was around EPSTEIN's neck or on the ground next to the body. took photos of EPSTEIN's cell on a BOP camera. Officer Noel stated "we didn't do rounds at 3am and Sam." Officer said he told Officer Noel it was not her fault and "We didn't do the rounds. We messed up." The 3am and 5am rounds to which Officer Noel referred would have been the count rounds. If the rounds were not completed there should not be any signed count slips associated with those times. If there were signed count slips it would mean the slips were falsified. If the count is not done, the rounds sheet, which is filled out every 30 min, also cannot be completed. At the end of the shift, the supervising Lieutenant signs and sends the completed log of the inmates' movements from the day. There were several pill bottles on the top bunk in EPSTEIN's cell. Inmates typically put some of their belongings on the top bunk when they do not have a cellmate. Lt. I= asked Officer Noel "Where's his bunkie at?" to which Officer Noel responded "he doesn't have a bunkie." Lieutenant worked the shift prior to Lieutenant . It is possible was aware EPSTEIN no longer had a "bunkie." MCC personnel receive annual refresher training regarding policy and procedure. The topics of inmates having a cellmate as well as how and when to conduct the count and complete rounds are covered in the annual refresher training. After the Duty Nurse removed EPSTEIN's body from the cell, secured the door to the cell and waited in the control room to notify the Captain and to complete a 583 form. A 583 form contains all the memos from the incident. =I later spoke to Officer NOEL and advised her not to lie about what happened, say exactly what happened and to document everything in a memo. Officer was distraught and left MCC before writing a memo. NOEL did not write a memo. Neither NOEL nor has reported back to work since the incident. has not spoken about the event to other officers. EFTA02729995