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on the evening of August 9 and the morning of August 10. Noel told the OIG that she conducted the 10 p.m. count on August 9. The OIG did not credit her statement based on: (1) its review of the SHU security camera video, which reflects Noel walking up and down the stairs leading to some, but not all, of the tiers several minutes after the SHU inmate count had been called into the Control Center; (2) the 10 p.m. count slip, which erroneously included the SHU Inmate 4, who had been internally transferred to Receiving and Delivery; (3) other BOP records; and (4) the Material Handler’s statement to the OIG that no one conducted the 10 p.m. count because everyone was tired. Instead of performing the required duties to account for inmate whereabouts and wellbeing, the OIG found that officers assigned to the SHU on August 9 and 10, including the Material Handler, Noel, and Thomas primarily remained seated in the SHU Officers’ Station—sometimes without moving for a period of time, suggesting that they were asleep—and conducted a variety of Internet searches on MCC New York computers. Thomas also admitted to the OIG that he “dozed off” for periods of time during his shift. The OIG’s analysis of the SHU security camera video revealed that after approximately 10:40 p.m., no CO entered Epstein’s tier in the SHU until just before 6:30 a.m. when Noel and Thomas began to serve breakfast to the inmates. The OIG investigation and review concluded that the Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge, the Material Handler, Noel, and Thomas failed to conduct the mandatory rounds and inmate counts during their respective shifts in the MCC New York SHU on August 9 and 10, 2019, and that their actions constituted violations of 5 C.F.R. 88 2635.101(b)(5) and 2635.705(a), BOP Program Statements 3420.11 and 5500.14, and MCC New York SHU Post Orders. 2. False Statements and Lack of Candor The OIG’s investigation and review found that on August 9 and 10, 2019, the Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge, the Material Handler, Noel, and Thomas made false statements when they falsified BOP records by attesting that they had completed the mandatory rounds and inmate counts when, in fact, they had not. Federal law provides that “whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive...branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully... makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry” has violated 18 U.S.C. 8 1001(a)(3). As discussed above, the OIG found that the Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge, the Material Handler, Noel, and Thomas failed to conduct all of the mandatory rounds and inmate counts. As part of each institutional inmate count, BOP policy and MCC New York SHU Post Orders require two COs to conduct each count and memorialize the number of inmates in the SHU on an official MCC New York form, often called a count slip.”> On the count slip, both COs are required to fill in the date and time the count had been performed, write the total number of inmates physically present in the unit counted, and then sign the count slip. Once the COs complete and sign the count slips, the count slips are then collected and delivered to the MCC New York Control Center. Officers assigned to the Control Center are responsible for comparing the count slips from each housing unit to the institution's overall inmate count sheet to ensure that each 7 This BOP form is officially entitled “Metropolitan Correctional Center; New York, New York; Official Count Slip.” 103 DOJ-OGR-00023470