Federal investigators discovered a loaded gun that had been smuggled into the jail the place Jeffrey Epstein killed himself final summer time, following a weeklong lockdown that turned up different contraband, the federal Bureau of Prisons stated.
Officers with the bureau discovered the gun inside a housing unit on the Metropolitan Correctional Heart in Manhattan, jail officers stated in an announcement.
The discovering raises severe questions in regards to the safety practices in place on the Bureau of Prisons, which is accountable for greater than 175,000 federal inmates, and particularly on the jail, which had been billed as one of the safe in America. Officers haven’t stated the place particularly the gun had been discovered, or the way it had been smuggled contained in the jail.
The investigation and search on the facility started final week after officers obtained data {that a} gun might have been smuggled into the lockup and positioned the jail on lockdown “in order to protect the public, staff, and inmates until a comprehensive search could be completed,” the company stated in an announcement.
Since then, officers have been holding inmates locked down of their cells with out entry to their attorneys and canceled all visitation on the jail, which homes about 700 inmates. Up to now few days, officers have searched the ability and uncovered a large quantity of contraband, together with cellphones, narcotics, and selfmade weapons, the Bureau of Prisons stated.
“All of these items pose a significant threat to the safety and security of the facility as well as the public,” the company stated in an announcement.
Investigators had been planning to proceed looking out the jail all through the night time Thursday, on the lookout for any extra contraband, and the lockdown was anticipated to proceed. Federal prosecutors try to find out how the contraband has been getting into the ability and the Bureau of Prisons stated it notified the Justice Division’s inspector normal and the FBI.
All guests and inmates are searched earlier than getting into the ability and undergo steel detectors. They’re supposed to go away private belongings outdoors the jail. All mail can also be screened by correctional workers.
Epstein, 66, was arrested after touchdown in New Jersey on July 6, 2019. Epstein, who had been in France, was charged with little one intercourse trafficking and intercourse trafficking.
In line with federal authorities, Epstein sexually abused and exploited dozens of women, some as younger as 14.
Epstein recruited minor women to go to his properties within the Manhattan borough of New York Metropolis and Palm Seashore, Florida to have interaction in intercourse acts, after which he’d pay them lots of of {dollars} in money, based on an indictment.
“Moreover, and in order to maintain and increase his supply of victims, Epstein also paid certain of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused,” authorities wrote. “In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach.”
Epstein was discovered unconscious in his cell in Manhattan on Aug. 10 and declared lifeless about 90 minutes later.
New York Metropolis Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson concluded that Epstein dedicated suicide, a discovering disputed by Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic specialist employed by Epstein’s brother. Baden claimed that neck accidents Epstein suffered weren’t generally present in suicide by hanging.
Sampson stood by her findings after Baden questioned them.
The assumption that Epstein might have truly been killed unfold broadly after he was declared lifeless. That perception has been fueled by occasions which have unfolded since, together with Baden’s evaluation and the disappearance of video footage from outdoors Epstein’s cell.
A protection lawyer for Nicholas Tartaglione, who as soon as shared a cell with Epstein, requested the footage. Prosecutors initially stated the footage wasn’t accessible earlier than saying they’d discovered it.
Within the newest replace in January, the prosecutors, together with Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI head James Comey, attributed the mix-up to the pc system on the Metropolitan Correctional Heart itemizing the unsuitable cell for Tartaglione.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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