The U.S. government said it is shutting down an embattled federal jail in New York City after a slew of problems that came to light following Jeffrey Epstein's suicide there two years ago, AP reported.
The federal Bureau of Prisons said the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan will be closed at least temporarily to address issues that have long plagued the facility, including lax security and crumbling infrastructure.
Epstein’s death a month after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges has been a lingering shadow over the jail, which was since marred by the rampant spread of the coronavirus, inmates’ complaints about squalid conditions, a smuggled gun, an inmate’s death, and a revolving door of wardens.
The Justice Department’s inspector general has yet to complete an investigation into lapses at the Metropolitan Correctional Center that allowed Epstein to end his life.