Indictment · death in custody Epstein 2019 — Federal Charges, and a Death in Custody

On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at a New Jersey airport on a federal indictment charging sex trafficking and conspiracy — alleging that from 2002 to 2005 he paid girls as young as 14 for sex acts and paid victims to recruit others. A court ordered him detained pending trial. On August 10, 2019, he was found hanged in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The NYC Medical Examiner ruled it suicide; a 2023 DOJ Inspector General report (the last of several inquiries) found no evidence of foul play, but documented a "combination of negligence and misconduct" by Bureau of Prisons staff: guards failed to do required checks and falsified records, he was left without a cellmate against a directive, and cameras failed. His death ended the federal case against him (dismissed nolle prosequi) — meaning the trafficking allegations against Epstein himself were never adjudicated, and any co-conspirators escaped that trial. Two guards were charged with falsifying records; both avoided prison via deferred-prosecution deals and community service.