NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has set an April trial date for two jail guards accused of failing to make required checks on Jeffrey Epstein the day he died.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said Monday that the trial of guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas can begin April 20.
RELATED: More coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein case
They have pleaded not guilty to lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had made required checks on the financier before he was found in his cell Aug. 10.
New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
Epstein was awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused teenage girls at his Manhattan mansion and a Florida home.
A defense lawyer says the guards are scapegoats for many failings in a trouble-plagued federal lockup.
