Epstein Found Injured on Floor of NYC Jail Cell: Sources
Accused pedophile and wealthy Manhattan financier Jeffrey Epstein was found injured and in a fetal position inside his cell at a New York City jail, according to sources close to the investigation.
Epstein, who is being held in Metropolitan Correctional Center during his trial for conspiracy and sex trafficking, was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck, sources told News 4. Investigators are trying to piece together what happened, and have spoken to an accused killer who one source says may have attacked Epstein.
Two sources tell News 4 that Epstein may have tried to hang himself, while a third source cautioned that the injuries were not serious and questioned if Epstein might be using it as a way to get a transfer.
However, the fourth source says an assault has not been ruled out, and that another inmate has been questioned. The inmate who investigators have talked to in Lower Manhattan facility has been identified as Nicholas Tartaglione, according to sources. Tartaglione is a former Orange County police officer who was arrested in December 2016 and accused of killing four men in an alleged cocaine distribution conspiracy, then burying their bodies in his yard in Otisville, according to court records.
The Briarcliff cop was charged with drug conspiracy and four counts of murder and is awaiting trial. Tartaglione and a pal, school security guard Joe Biggs, allegedly killed the four men after luring them to a bar in Chester and holding them captive, federal prosecutors said at the time of his arrest. Tartaglione, 49, killed the men as part of a conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine, prosecutors allege.
Sources told News 4 investigators tried to question Tartaglione about whether he had any contact with Epstein before he was found on the ground. The former cop claimed not to have seen anything and didn’t touch Epstein, sources said.
Attorneys for Epstein and Tartaglione did not immediately return calls for comment.
Most recently in the sex trafficking case against Epstein, the wealthy financier had been denied bail on July 18 following a bombshell search-warrant revelation that Epstein had a fake passport and piles of cash stashed in his safe.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman cited risk of flight and danger to the community in his decision against Epstein, a registered sex offender and private-island owner who faces new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. That meant Epstein would remain behind bars pending trial (a date for the start of which has yet to be set).
One of his attorneys, Martin Weinberg, said the legal team hadn't read the court's opinion, but when they review it, "We will seriously contemplate an appeal to the 2nd Circuit."
Berman said prosecutors established a "preponderance" of evidence of Epstein being a flight risk, calling the fake Saudi passport "concerning,” and said the government also established community danger by "clear and convincing evidence" — which led to his decision to keep the financier behind bars.
Epstein's lawyers had wanted him released on house arrest with electronic monitoring at his $77 million Manhattan mansion. They said he wouldn't run and was willing to pledge a fortune of at least $559 million as collateral.
Berman described their proposed bail package as "irretrievably inadequate," saying, "I doubt any bail package can overcome his danger to the community."
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had argued evidence against Epstein was growing "stronger by the day" after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were underage.
Berman cited victims' testimony as having an impact on his decision, in addition to Epstein's alleged history of intimidating, threatening and paying off witnesses or other parties involved in the case.
One of the accusers he cited was Courtney Wild, who recently came forward and said Epstein started sexually abusing her when she was 14 in Palm Beach. She told reporters at a news conference in New York Tuesday that Epstein "will never stop sexually abusing children until he is in jail" and urged the judge to deny bail.
Berman also questioned whether Epstein has adhered to the requirements of being a registered sex offender, which he had to do as part of a plea deal with Florida prosecutors more than a decade ago.
Epstein has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and sex trafficking charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan. Wild's accusations are not part of that indictment. The financier's next court date is set for July 31.
Photo Credit: Corbis via Getty Images
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