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common practice in the BOP for prisoners coming off of suicide watch to be assigned a cellmate. The SHU Lieutenant confirmed that a BOP psychologist told him that Epstein had to be housed with a cellmate when Epstein returned to the SHU and said that he passed the directive down to the SHU staff. Additionally, the Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge on August 9, 2019, said he and all other SHU staff were aware of Epstein’s cellmate requirement. MCC New York Psychology Department personnel told the OIG that MCC New York staff members knew of Epstein’s cellmate requirement because it was discussed during staff meetings, department head meetings, SHU meetings, morning meetings, and during required staff training. Forensic Psychologist 1 told the OIG that on August 9, 2019, she was present during a meeting in which one of Epstein’s attorneys opposed Epstein having a cellmate. Forensic Psychologist 1 said she explained to the attorney that Epstein needed to have a cellmate because he was housed in the SHU and he was a sex offender. VI. Selection of Epstein’s Cellmate After Psychological Observation The Captain told the OIG that he compiled a list of possible cellmates for Epstein, vetted those inmates, and provided the list of names to the MCC New York Warden. The Warden told the OIG that he identified two potential cellmates and tentatively decided on Inmate 3. The Warden said he passed this information on to the BOP Director's Chief of Staff and later received word that he should assign Inmate 3 to be Epstein’s cellmate. The Warden told the OIG that no inmates were pre-vetted to replace Inmate 3 if he left MCC New York. The Warden and the Captain told the OIG that if Inmate 3 had been removed as Epstein’s cellmate, they would have had to review a new list of potential cellmate candidates to ensure that Epstein was housed with an appropriate inmate. According to the Warden and the Captain, if Inmate 3 was no longer detained at MCC New York, SHU staff should have informed a Lieutenant on duty, who should have informed the Captain, who would have ensured that the process of selecting a new cellmate for Epstein would begin. Vil. Epstein’s Cell Assignment from July 30 to August 10 As a result of Epstein’s cellmate requirement, on July 30, 2019, following his release from psychological observation, Epstein was initially assigned to cell Z04-206 with Inmate 3 in the J Tier of the SHU.2° A BOP 26 SENTRY, which is BOP’s database of information relating to the care, classification, subsistence, protection, discipline, and programs of inmates, inaccurately reflected that this move from his psychological observation cell to the SHU occurred the previous day (July 29, 2019). The investigation revealed that Epstein was originally scheduled to return to the SHU on July 29, 2019, but, at his request, he remained on psychological observation until July 30, 2019. SENTRY was not updated to reflect either the actual date of Epstein’s transfer back into the SHU or the cell to which he and Inmate 3 were assigned after the initial cell change necessitated by the electrical needs of Epstein’s medical device. The administrative error in BOP’s SENTRY records regarding Epstein’s cell assignment had no effect on the events the OIG investigated and reviewed. According to OIG interviews with MCC New York staff members, it does not appear that there were any checks to ensure Continued 33 DOJ-OGR-00023400