AP sources: Epstein jail guards had been offered plea deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors offered a plea deal to two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night of his death, but the officers have declined the offer.

That’s according to people familiar with the matter.

The existence of the plea offer signals the Justice Department is considering criminal charges in connection with the wealthy financier’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August. The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.

The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.