U.S. prosecutors have dropped their criminal case against two jail guards who were at the Manhattan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York on the night that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein purportedly killed himself. In a legal notice (pdf), prosecutors informed the judge they wish to abandon criminal proceedings against Manhattan jail guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, who were accused of slacking on the job when they were meant to check in on Epstein around the time he died. Epstein, who has connections with many powerful and wealthy people, was found dead in his jail cell at the MCC on Aug. 10, 2019, while he was being held on charges that he operated a sex trafficking ring. New York City’s medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. The two guards were indicted in November 2019 on charges of conspiracy and falsifying records. They later both admitted to having “willfully and knowingly” falsified records to make it seem …