Hugh J. Hurwitz

INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

Hugh J. Hurwitz served as the acting director of the federal Bureau of Prisons beginning in May 2018. On August 10, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Nine days later, on August 19, 2019, Attorney General William Barr removed Hurwitz from his position as acting director of the Bureau of Prisons. Barr cited "serious irregularities" at the facility in connection with Epstein's death. Hurwitz was not fully terminated but was demoted and reassigned to serve as assistant director of the BOP's Reentry Services Division, where he would work on implementing the First Step Act. Barr appointed Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who had previously led the BOP from 1992 to 2003, as the new acting director, along with Dr. Thomas R. Kane as deputy director. Additionally, the warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center was temporarily reassigned, and two prison guards at the facility were placed on administrative leave. The removal of Hurwitz was widely reported as a direct consequence of oversight failures that allowed Epstein to die in federal custody. There is no evidence that Hurwitz faced any criminal charges or civil suits in connection with the events surrounding Epstein's death.