MCC Corrections Officer Michael Thomas And His OIG Interview Related To Epstein's Death (Part 13) (3/5/26)
Mar 6, 2026
A detailed look at a corrections officer’s OIG interview about the night Jeffrey Epstein died. Topics include uncertainty around camera monitoring, admitted dozing on duty, seating and colleague awareness during overnight rounds, staffing shortfalls that left areas single-covered, and how counts and computer use were handled at the facility.
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insights INSIGHT
Uncertainty About Camera Coverage In Epstein's Unit
Michael Thomas repeatedly says he didn't know whether cameras covered Epstein's cell.
He acknowledges some tiers and cells had cameras (10 South lower, G tier) but denies knowledge of a camera inside Epstein's cell area.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Officer Admits Dozing On Night Shift
Thomas admits he dozed on shift between midnight and ~6:33 a.m. and can't recall exact duration.
He describes nodding off before, says shifts are boring at night and that he now keeps Red Bull on hand.
insights INSIGHT
Thomas Acknowledges Falsified Count Certifications
Investigators confirm Thomas knew he was falsifying count records when certifying rounds on August 9.
He acknowledges the counselor confronted him about incorrectly certifying counts.
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Michael Thomas was a veteran correctional officer employed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan — a federal detention facility — where Jeffrey Epstein was being held in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Thomas had been with the Bureau of Prisons since about 2007 and, on the night of Epstein’s death (August 9–10, 2019), was assigned to an overnight shift alongside another officer, Tova Noel, responsible for conducting required 30-minute inmate checks and institutional counts in the SHU. Because Epstein’s cellmate had been moved and not replaced, Epstein was alone in his cell, making regular monitoring all the more crucial under bureau policy.
Thomas became a focal figure in the official investigations into Epstein’s death because surveillance footage and institutional records showed that neither he nor Noel conducted the required rounds or counts through the night before Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell early on August 10. Prosecutors subsequently charged both officers with conspiracy and falsifying records for signing count slips that falsely indicated they had completed rounds they had not performed. Thomas and Noel later entered deferred prosecution agreements in which they admitted falsifying records and avoided prison time, instead receiving supervisory release and community service. Investigators concluded that chronic staffing shortages and procedural failures at the jail contributed to the circumstances that allowed Epstein to remain unmonitored for hours before his death, which was officially ruled a suicide by hanging.
The Vault: The Epstein Files