Public Corruption Unit¶
Short Form Updates October 4, 2019¶
A. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN CASES¶
- In re Jeffrey Epstein. On August 10, Epstein committed suicide at the MCC. (A separate update on the ongoing investigation into MCC guards in connection with the night/morning of his death is provided below.) The investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators continues. In particular, we have developed considerable evidence regarding the involvement of one of his assistants, who participated in scheduling massages, setting up the massage room, photographing victims, and paying victims, among other things. We are also actively investigating Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been publicly accused of recruiting and grooming victims. We have recently spoken to several victims who engaged with Maxwell in the 1990’s. In particular, one victim was recruited and groomed by Maxwell in the 1990’s beginning at age 17. Two other victims were recruited and groomed by Maxwell in the 1990’s, and were flown interstate, including to New York, for the purpose of giving Epstein sexualized massages; the instances of sexual assault included Maxwell. A fourth victim was groomed by Maxwell and engaged in inappropriate touching with both Maxwell and Epstein in New Mexico that does not rise to the level of sexual activity or assault, but her information would be relevant to a conspiracy charge or as 404(b) evidence. These victims have exhibited varying degrees of willingness and/or hesitancy to continue to cooperate and/or testify. In addition, the team is continuing to research which statutes existed at the time of these incidents in the 1990’s and might be applicable to the relevant conduct; the sex trafficking statute with which we charged Epstein did not exist. We have also finally begun reviewing the extremely large amount of data seized in the search on Epstein’s Manhattan residence, and hope to begin reviewing the material seized from the search of Epstein’s USVI residence soon.
In re: MCC Suicide Investigation,¶
: Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death by suicide of Jeffrey Epstein on the morning of August 10, 2019, while detained at the MCC pending trial on sex trafficking charges. Our investigation to date has focused principally on the two guards assigned to the Special Housing Unit (“SHU”) where Epstein was being housed on the night/morning of his death, Officer and Officer . In particular, we have learned that neither officer did the scheduled counts of the SHU at 12pm, 3am or 5am while falsely certifying, on written count sheets, that they had, in fact, completed the counts. In addition, it appears that , who also worked the prior shift, failed to do 10pm counts the evening before as well. We have similarly learned that the officers did not do the mandated 30-minute rounds throughout the night (while, again, falsely indicating that they had in required MCC paperwork), meaning that while Epstein should have¶
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been checked every 30 minutes throughout the night, he was in fact not checked at all during the overnight shift until his body was discovered at approximately 6:30am on the morning of the $10^{\text{th}}$. In addition, while we are awaiting work presently being done by the FBI to potentially restore and/or improve surveillance video from the SHU on the night of Epstein’s suicide, an FBI review of the video we do have suggests that the counts, in particular, are regularly done and that it would be extremely unusual, as was the case the evening of Epstein’s suicide, for multiple consecutive counts not to be done. As we consider final charging decisions, counsel for both and have asked to present to us on their clients’ behalf, and we have scheduled those presentations for October 8.¶
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their investigation into the events at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 9-10, 2019, the night that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. In the last two months, SDNY, along with agents from the FBI and DOJ-OIG, have interviewed more than forty witnesses, including 27 MCC employees and 16 inmates at MCC; reviewed records from the MCC as well as financial records for the relevant employees; conducted searches of the cellphones used by certain of the relevant prison guards, and reviewed dozens of hours of the limited videotape evidence the FBI has thus far been able to recover from a heavily corrupted system. The investigation has determined principally that the two prison officers responsible for the SHU area during the night of August 9 and early morning hours of August 10 – and did not conduct any of the required institutional “counts” at 12 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m., nor did they conduct most of the “rounds” they were required to conduct every 30 minutes. In particular, it appears that no prison official observed Epstein from approximately 9:30 pm on the evening of August 9 until his body was discovered at approximately 6:30 a.m. the next morning. and also falsified numerous forms, indicating that they had performed the required rounds and counts overnight although they did not actually do so. Instead, and were performing other tasks, using the computer, talking, or sleeping during their overnight shift. In addition, the investigation has determined that, contrary to MCC policy and a directive from the Chief Psychologist and then-Warden, Epstein was left without a cellmate from the morning of August 9 through his death on the morning of August 10. It is not clear that either or was specifically made aware of the directive, although had been on duty in SHU during Epstein’s prior suicide attempt and they were both trained on MCC policy and had the ability to assign Epstein a new cellmate.¶
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