Judge Denies Epstein Bail After Bombshell Find Hints at Escape Plan
After federal agents completed a search of Jeffrey Epstein’s luxurious Manhattan apartment, they found an overwhelming amount of bizarre and grossly inappropriate items that the Southern District of New York compiled in a report to convince a judge that Epstein shouldn’t be set free before his trial.
On top of that, on July 15, a “pile of cash, diamonds” and “a passport from a foreign country” were also found in his home, locked in a safe, according to NBC News.
The evidence against Epstein was so overwhelming that on Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the registered sex-offender would be staying in jail until his hearing, scoring a massive win for prosecutors on the case, according to another report from NBC News.
A trial date has not been set at this time.
The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, pointed to the fact that Epstein was an obvious flight-risk, especially after the discovery of the fake passport. He also said that Epstein was a danger to the community.
One of Epstein’s high-powered attorneys, Martin Weinberg, said his team hadn’t yet reviewed the judge’s decision but said that after they do, “We will seriously contemplate an appeal to the 2nd Circuit.”
Yeah, good luck with that argument. It doesn’t take a $1,500 per hour attorney to deduce that a man like Epstein, who has virtually endless monetary resources, is the definition of “flight-risk,” especially with his stash of diamonds and fake Saudi passport.
Oh, and let’s remember, the man has a private island.
Because of those factors, Judge Berman cited a “preponderance” of evidence that Epstein was likely to get the heck out of dodge before his trial. The “danger to the community” part of his decision presumably was a result of his past sex-offender history and the massive stash of inappropriate images authorities found in his apartment, including many who appeared to be underage.
NBC News reported that Epstein sat quietly with his hands folded during the bail hearing while sporting a blue prison uniform.
Epstein’s lawyers tried their best to convince Berman that their client wouldn’t flee, even offering $559 million in collateral and agreeing to house arrest in his $77 million New York mansion with the use of electronic monitoring.
Thankfully, the judge didn’t fall for any of it. Even if Epstein promised virtually his entire fortune in assets — that’s just the money that the government knows about. While we may never know, it’s not a stretch to consider that the ultra-wealthy financier might have a few offshore accounts for emergency purposes.
The judge even doubled down, claiming Epstein’s lawyers’ offer was “irretrievably inadequate” and followed by saying, “I doubt any bail package can overcome his danger to the community.”
Epstein got lucky once before. In 2008, the sicko escaped justice after signing what many called a “sweetheart deal” after being charged in an investigation that included more than 30 underage girls, according to Vox.
In that deal, he was put on a “work release” program, in which he got to sit in a “comfortable office” for 12 hours per day. And instead of a long sentence in prison, like any other American likely would have received, he did what little time he did in a private wing of a Palm Beach County jail.
But this time around, it’s going to be quite a bit different for him. According to The Wall Street Journal, Epstein faces a whopping 45 years in prison if convicted.
Given the OJ Simpson-level publicity around his case now, not to mention the politics involved, getting merely a slap on the wrist and a special deal seem far out of the realm of possibility at this point.
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