Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 1 of 18 fusncsnNY ---------------------------------------------------------------x lnocuMENT . ~:LECTRONICALL Y FILED /' ;;;oc #: j j DATE J-cIL_E_D:___,..~-,-,-~-i,,__,~,- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1_ _ UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Government, - against - 19 CR. 490 (RMB) ORDER JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Defendant. ---------------------------------------------------------------x The Clerk is respectfully requested to docket the enclosed documents which were discussed at today's bail hearing. Dated: New York, New York July 15, 2019 RICHARD M. BERMAN U.S.D.J. Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 2 of 18 SORP HEARING , L;;' " 1 2 SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY ____________________________________ x TRIAL TERM PART 66 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: INDICTMENT # . 3 4 5 6 page 1 . 3012972010 AGAINST JEFFREY EPSTEIN ___________________Defendant; -----------------x SORA HEARING 7 111 Centre Street New York, New York 10013 January 18, 2011 8 9 , I :10 I ' '11~ B E FOR E: ~ HONORABLE RUTH PICKHOLZ Justice of the Supreme Court 12 L.j! 13 14 15 '. A P PEA RAN C E 5: ..>:"J~ For the People: CYRUS R. VANCE, JR., ESQ., New York County District Attorney .One Hogan Place' . .' New York, New York 10013 BY: JENNIFER GAFFNEY,' ESQ. Assistant District Attorney For the Defense: KIRKLAND & ELLI, LLP 153 East 53rd Street New York, New York 10022 BY: JAY LEFKOWITZ ,ESQ .. SANDRA MUSUMECI, ESQ. 16 :. ! 1:7 .o.i~~ i. .t8 i'. 1;9 ~, 20 21 22 2~ 24 Vikki J. Benkel Senior Court Reporter j'; 25 ~~'. Vikki J. Benkel. SeniOi Court Reporter 1 t. "','..' ',' • I Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 3 of 18 page 2 SORA HEARING COURT CLERK: This 'is number two on the calendar, matter of Jeffrey Epstein. Your appearances please. MS. GAFFNEY: ,Jennifer Gaffney for the People, Good afternoon, Your Honor. MR. LEFKOWITZ: for Mr. Epstein. THE COURT: Jay, Lefkowi tz and Sandra Musumeci Mr. Epstein is not here. MR. LEFKOWITZ: ,THE COURT; That's correct. Are you wai ving hi s appearance? MR. LEOOWITZ: MS. GAFFNEY: Yes ~ Your Honor, thi sease is on for a SORA hearing this afternoon. The People did receive the board's recommendation of a Level Three. However, we received the underlying information .from them and also had some contact with Florida, and we don't believe that we can rely on the entire probable cause affidavit. I don't know if the board sent'that to you as well. THE COURT: I don't know why you cannot rely on it. MS. GAFFNEY: , Because in Flori da of all of the victims in that probable cause affidavit, they actually only went forward on one case. There was 'only an indictment for Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Court Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 4 of 18 page 3 SORft HEARING 1 one victim and that is what the defendant plead to. So it is unlike 2 a situation'where everythi'ng was 3 indicted and then we get to sort of assess points for all of 4 the victims, if it was part of a plea bargain. 5 actually yhoose to go forward on any except for the one 6 victim. 7 They did not So under the board guidelines, the risk assessment 8 interim guidelines, it actually says, you know, by way of 9 contrast if an offender is not indicted for an offense, it 10 is strong evidence that the offense did not occur and 1 11 12 don't think -THE COURT: 13 indicted it is strong evidence that it did not occur? Do you find that if somebody is not 14 MS. GAFFNEY: '1 don't know that we can rely on it 15 as clear and convincing evidence if the prosecutor's office 16 never went forward on it. The prosecution said that the 17 victims, although they spoke to the police early on, did not 18 cooperate with them. So we don't have any follow up 19 information. 20 THE COURT: But the board found a Level Three. 21 I have to tell you, I am ali tt 1e overwhelmed 22 because I have never seen the prosecutor's office do 23 anything like this. 24 wi th one instance it was a mari ne who went to a bar, and 1 25 wish I had the case before me, but he went to a bar and a 17 I have never seen it. ~ Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Court Reporter I had a case Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 5 of 18 page 4 SOR,A HEARING year old, he was an adult obviously, he was a Marine, a 17 year old came up to him an~ one thing lead to another and he had sex with her and the People would not agree to a downward modification on that. ,.So I am a little overwhelmed here because I see -I mean 1 read everything here, I am just a little overwhelmed that the People are making this application. '1 could cite many many, I have done many SORAs much less troubling than this one where the People would never make a downward argument like thi~. MS. GAFFNEY: I agree with Your Honor, it is incredibly unusual for us to make a downward argument. But I the problem is the one thing that we have from the board is it seems to be in contradiction to their own guidelines which if ~omething was not indicted, you are not supposed to rely on it. THE COURT: They obviously took that into consideration. MS. GAFFNEY: And 1 tried to reach -- I reached the authorities in Florida to try to see if they had all the interview notes or other things that we can then subsequently rely on that might be considered clear and convi.ncing evidence, if they had interviewed these women on their own, and they never did. No one was cooperative and they did not go forward on any of the cases and none of them I \ ! Vi~ki J. Benkel . SeniOi Court Reporter i Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 6 of 18 page 5 SOR.A HEARING 0 1 THE COURT: 3 .MS. GAFFNEY: 5 office. And you spoke to the prosecutor? The actual prosecutor 1eft the I spoke to the prosecutor that took over the case. THE COURT: Maybe you can find the prosecutor that 7 left the office. You have done more in other cases looking into it. 8 I have never seen the prosecutor's office do this. 9 10 to tell you, I am shocked. MS. GAFFNEY: Right, but I spoke to the prosecutor 11 that took over the case and.they don't have anything, any 12 13 affidavits, any statements, any notes. THE COURT: Why don't you speak to the prosecutor 14 that did do the case, I am sure you could find that 15 16 prosecutor. MS. GAFFNEY: 17 the other prosecutor said, they did not speak to that 18 19 prosecutor eitner. THE COURT: 20 yourself, you did .not speak to them, that is hearsay. 21 did not speak to the prosecutor that handled the case, 6 You did not speak to the prosecutor MS. GAFFNEY: . That's right. 23 THE COURT: 25 investigation here. MS. GAFFNEY: I have I can find her, but based upon what 22 24 V So I don't know. 2 4 I were indicted. I don't think you did much of an I mean I called the prosecutor. Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Court Reporter You Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 7 of 18 SOR)) HEARING 1 Even though the first prosecutor left, presumably the 2 prosecutor's office has the file. 3 THE COURT: 4 MS. GAFFNEY: 5 6 7 I would still call the prosecutor. Anything from these women they would have forwarded it to us. THE COURT: I don't know that, I think you have to speak to the prosecutor. 8 But be that as it may, I hear your argument. 9 Anything else? MS. GAFFNEY: I mean that is why I don't think we 10 11 can, I don't think we are entitled to rely on this because 12 they did not go forward. THE COURT: The board made a reconmendation. 13 U page 6 14 MS. GAFNEY: Correct. 15 MS. MUSUMECI: 16 WE COURT-: Yes. 17 MS. MUSUMECI: 18 I would like to bring a few additional points to 19 Your Honor's attention that don't come across in the board 20 21 recommendation. The.first is that Mr. Epstein is not a resident of 22 New York, unlike most of these out of state, he has not 23 changed his address and moved to New.York, he maintains a 24 vacation home in New York. 25 .' U.S. Virgin Islands. May I speak, Your Honor? Good afternoon. His primary residence is the Vikki J. Benkel Sen-iOi Court Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 8 of 18 page SORA HEARING 1 He is registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands, he 2 has been since his release from jail. 3 Virgin Island authorities every time he leaves that 4 jurisdiction. 5 lowest level of registration. 6 He notifies'the Virgin Island authorities rated him at the He also registered in Florida, which is the state 7 of this particular offense, and the only reason that this 8 conviction is even before Your Honor. " 9 The offense fot which he was convicted is not a 10 registrable offense in New York. 11 here arguably because based on the provision of SORA that 12 says if a, crime is registrable in the state of conviction, 13 then it is registrable here in New York. 14 authorities that consider~d that rated him at the lowest 15 16 level of their SORA statute. He additionally has a vacation home in New Mexico 17 and is registered in New Mexico. 18 authorities when they considered his offenses, determined he 19 need not register at all. 20 registered with New Mexico and maintains that registration. 21 He is only registrable And the Florida The New Mexican Nevertheless, he has voluntarily Additionally, because of his possession of a 22 vacation home in New York, he has been voluntarily 23 registered with New York SOMU, the Sex Offender Monitoring 24 Unit since May of this year. He notifies them whenever he 25 comes to travel to New York. He never comes to New York for /' (.j Vikki J. Benkel Senio; Gourl Reporter 7 Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 9 of 18 page SOR,A HEARING 1 more than seven days or at least he has not since he has 2 been registered. 3 longer than a period of ten days. 4 Like I said, he does notify the authorities when 5 he is here. 6 registration, he wants to be compliant ~th 7 law which requires wherever you own a property to register. 8 9 V He has no intention to ever be here for He fully understands the reason for voluntary the Federal SORA To require Mr. Epstein to register as a Level Three offender in New York would actually require him to 10 come to New York more than he does normally, it would 11 require him to come every 90 days and renew his 12 registration. .He is very di1;gent in regi steri ng ~ th N6VIfYork 13 15 authorities.' All of the other jurisdictions that have 16 considered his case have determined that he either not 17 register at all or register at the lowest level, and he has 18 been more than compliant ~th 14 19 20 21 22 all of those requirements. Your Honor, we would join in the prosecutor's application. THE COURT: I am sure you would. MS. MUSUMECI: By way" of background, we have been 23 in contact ~th the prosecutor's office'on this matter since 24 I believe certainly since Mr. Epstein got his notification, 25 .. whi ch I bel ieve was in August. We have met ~ th the ' Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Gourl Reporter 8 Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 10 of 18 page 9 SOR,A HEARING 1 prosecutor and provided numerous materials for the 2 prosecutor to consider. 3 deposition from the detective who headed this investigation 4 who acknowledged in a sworn deposition that the lead 5 prosecutor who originally had the case, whose name I cannot 6 pronounce, Lanna Belohlavek, I apologize for the 7 mispronunciation, said to the detective after her 8 investigation, there are no real victims here. We have included in that a All of the alleged conduct that is cited in the 9 10 board's write up was commercial conduct. 11 conduct the women went voluntarily, there are no allegations 12 13 of force certainly none. THE COURT: There was no ~llegation of force in 14 the marine either, who met a girl in a bar, a young girl 17, 15 16 there was no force there. MS. MUSUMECI: It is our understanding that the 17 prosecutor in Florida conducted a full investigation, .as 18 full as she was able with the cooperation afforded by these 19 complainants, and determined. that the only case that she 20 could present to the grand jury was this indictment for a 21 non registrable offense then THE COURT: But it is registrable here. 22 I don't know what you mean non registrable 23 24 25 ,... All of the alleged offense. MS. MUSUMECI: Let .me explain, Your- Honor. Vikki J. Benkel . SeniOi Courl Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 11 of 18 SORA HEARING page lO Mr. Epstein plead t9 two charges, one was an 1 2 indictment which is an offense that is not registrable, it 3 is a Florida indictment for -- 4 THE COURT: 5 here? MS. MUSUMECI: 6 7 Then why does he have to register It was a second offense that he plead to 8 THE COURT: That is registrab 1e. 9 MS. MUSUMECI: That is registrable. 10 That offense was by information and that is the 11 on1y regi strab1e offense, that is what the DA's off; ce is 12 considering in doing their scoring. The indictment which was the only case that the 13 14 prosecutor even prosecuted through grand jury is not even a 15 16 registrable offense. THE COURT: 17 offense. He plead guilty to a registrable 18 MS. MUSUMECI: 19 THE COURT: 20 MS. GAFFNEY: Yes. What did he plead guilty to? He plead guilty to the procuring a 22 person under 18 for prostitution. THE COURT: Procuring a person under 18 for 23 prqstitution. 21 24 MS. GAFFNEY: 25 THE COURT: Right. How old was she? " I Vikki J. Benkel Senio; Court Reporter I I I Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 12 of 18 .". ':)t~., I ... I SOR.A HEARING 1 MS. GAFFNEY: page 11 \ I I It appears the first time they met 2 she was either 16 or 17, then for the remainder of their 3 relationship she was probably 17. j \ J 4 THE COURT: 5 MS. GAFFNEY: How long was their relationship? She met, she gave him approximately II \' I 6 15 massages, including with sexual contact, and ultimately 7 when she is 17 had intercourse with him. 8 THE COURT: 9 MS. MUSUMECI: Your Honor, I would note that under 10 SORA it is clear that prostitution offenses are only 11 registrable when in fact by clear and convincing evidence 12 the women or victim is 17, is under 17. THE COURT: Well, she met him at 16, he procured 13 14 15 her at 16 from what I read. MS. MUSUMECI: There is evidence we challenged. 16 THE COURT: 17 MS. MUSUMECI: He plead guilty to that, didn't he? He plead guilty to under 18, which 18 is the law in Florida, which is a different standard than 19 what the 1aN isin New York. 20 there. is no clear and convincing evidence as to her specific 21 age at the time of the specific conduct. THE COURT: Well, the DA just told me she was most 22 And there is no evi dence I 24 likely 17, she just said it on the record. MS. MUSUMECI: Your Honor, we agree that the 25 evidence is that she was 17 on the one occasi on she had' 23 .0 She is a child. Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Courl Reporter I ' Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 13 of 18 page SOR.L1HEARING 1 consensual intercourse ~th 2 criminal under New York law. ~th a 17 year old is not registrable conduct. 5 THE COURT: 6 MS. GAFFNEY: 7 Why does he have to register here? Because it is a register able offense in Florida, New York State board of examiners 8 THE COURT: 9 MS. GAFFNEY: 10 him and 17 is not registrable or And the prostitution aspect of having intercourse 3 4 THE COURT: Recognizes it. Recogni zes it, yes. I have had many cases like that where 11 it was not registrable here but it was in the state where 12 the person came from and New York recognized that. 13 MS. MUSUMECI: Your Honor, we are not saying that 14 he should not register. Mr. Epstein has already registered 15 and recognizes his duty to register. THE COURT: I am glad of that, very glad of that~ 16 12 17 I am sorry he may have to come here every 90 days. 18 He can give up his New York home if he does not 19 want to come every 90 days. 20 Anythi ng 81 se? 21 I rely on the board. 22 MS. MUSUMECI: 23 Your Honor, we would reserve our right to appeal Your Honor's ruling. 24 THE COURT: 25 ..- MS. GAFFNEY: Of course; do so. For the record Your Honor, he is I Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Courl Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 14 of 18 page SOR,A HEARING 1 going to be deemed a Level Three sex offender ~th 2 designation, correct? 3 THE COURT: 4 MS. MUSUMECI: 5 6 no Correct. For purposes of the appeal I believe that Your Honor THE COURT: Give me the board's scoring. The board has scored use of violence the least, 7 8 13 10. Sexual contact ~th 9 victim, 25. Number of victims, three or more. 10 I agree. He only plead 11 guilty to one, but apparently there were more than one and I 12 think the People concede that although they say it was not 13 reliable. ~ 14 Duration of offense, conduct with victim, 15 continuing course of sexual misconduct, the People have told 16 me it was continuing for 20 points. Age of victim 11 through 16, he got 20 points for 17 18 19 20 21 22 that, and she was 16 at the time. Other victim characteristics, there was no mental disable or helplessness. I agree. Relationship ~th victim stranger, 20 points. Age at first act of sexual misconduct, 20 or less. 24 They scored him zero on that. Number and nature of prior crimes, no history, 25 they scored him five on that. 23 " Vikki J. Blmkel SeniOi Court Reporter , I Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 15 of 18 SOR.A HEARING Recency of prior offense less than three years, 1 2 page 14 they gave him zero. 3 Drug or alcohol abuse history, they ~ave him zero. 4 Acceptance of responsibility, they gave him zero. 5 Conduct while confined, they gave him zero. 6 And supervision, they gave him zero. 7 Living employment situation, zero. 8 They gave him 130 points, which is the highest 9 level, and I agree'~th MR. LEFKOWITZ: 10 11 that. If I could be heard for one moment. 12 It appears that th~ state board made its 13 determination based on access to a police report in Florida, The prosecutor, the lead prosecutor, the lead sex 14 15 crimes pr~secutor in Palm Beach made a determination that 16 the complainants and the police report itself was not 17 credible and decided not to prosecute on the basis of all of 18 that. 19 In addition, there has been through the course of 20 the last few years some civil litigation, as you might 21 imagine, involving these matters and we now have sworn 22 testimony in evidence from the complainants themselves -- 23 disclaiming much of what appears in the police report. 24 25 SO, Your Honor, we would submit and this is not to make light in any way of the conduct what Mr. Epstein did or Vikki J. Benkel SeniOi Court Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 16 of 18 page 15 SOR.A HEARING 1 what Mr. Epstein plead guilty to, but ~th 2 everything and that is why Mr. Epstein voluntarily 3 registered in New York even though there is a question about 4 whether he has any obligation just as a jurisdictional 5 matter, but Your Honor, ~th 6 level for him to register, we would submit Your Honor that 7 the evidence simply does not.support the foundation of the 8 state's determination. THE COURT: 9 10 respect to respect to the appropriate You have made a very clear record and you have your right to appeal. I feel the board looked into all of this, made 11 12 their recommendation, found him to have 130 points and I see 13 no reason to disturb that. Thank you. 14 15 16 I, Vikki J. Benkel, a Senior Court Reporter in and for 17 the State of New York, do hereby certify that the foregoing 18 transcript is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, 19 skill and ability. 20 \ . 21 22 Vi kki J. Benke 1 23 24 25 Vikki J. Benkel Senio; Court Reporter Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 17 of 18 SMART Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING INITIATIVE smart.gov!SOMAPI SOMAPI Report Highlights Adult Sex Offender Recidivism Observed recidivism rates of sex offenders are underestimates of actual reoffending. Sex crimes are one of the most underreported crimes and are often unseen by anyone other than the victim and perpetrator. Low reporting levels make it extremely difficult to estimate actual sexual recidivism rates. Additionally, only a small portion of sex offenses reported to law enforcement result in the offender's arrest. Therefore, it's generally recognized that observed recidivism rates are underestimates of the true reoffense rates of sex offenders. Measuring sex offender recidivism is difficult due to underreporting and different methods used in research studies. Studies with longer follow-up periods show that recidivism increases over time. Furthermore, different "types" of sex offenders have different recidivism rates. Sex offender recidivism is difficult to measure. Recidivism rates are measured differently from one study to the next, with different results. Studies differ in how recidivism is defined (i.e., rearrest vs. reconviction), how long offenders are followed and what types of offenders are included (i.e., rapists vs. child molesters). Recidivism rates of sex offenders range from 5 percent after 3 years to 24 percent after 15 years. Relatively low rates are reported in studies using observed sexual recidivism rates over follow-up periods shorter than 5 years. For example, a 2003 study (Langan, P., Schmitt, E., & Durose, M., "Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released From Prison in 1994," Bureau of Justice Statistics) found a sexual recidivism rate of about 5 percent using a 3-year follow-up period for a large sample of sex offenders released from prison. Studies employing longer follow-up periods consistently report higher rates of recidivism. For example, a 2004 study (Harris, A.J.R., & Hanson, R.K., "Sex Offender Recidivism: A Simple Question," Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada) reported sexual recidivism rates of 20 percent and 24 percent for a sample of sex offenders based on a 10-year and 15-year follow-up period, respectively. Sex offenders - regardless of type - have higher rates of general recidivism than sexual recidivism. Recidivism studies have consistently found that adult sex offenders have much higher rates of general reoffending than sexual reoffending. A 2004 study (Hanson, R.K., & Morton-Bourgon, K., "Predictors of Sexual Recidivism: An Updated Meta-Analysis," Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada) analyzed findings from 95 studies and found that sex offenders had an average overall recidivism rate of 37 percent compared to an average sexual recidivism rate of 14 percent, based on follow-up periods of 5 to 6 years. This suggests that policies aimed at protecting the public from sex offender reoffense should be concerned with the likelihood of any form of serious recidivism, not just sexual recidivism. Female sex offenders reoffend at significantly lower rates than male offenders. Five- to six-year rates of sexual recidivism for female sex offenders may be as low as 1 to 3 percent. The empirical evidence regarding the different recidivism rates of female and male sex offenders suggests that intervention and management practices need to differentiate between female and male sex offenders, and that methods for assessing risk of male sex offenders are unlikely to be accurate when applied to female sex offenders (Cortoni, F., Hanson, R.K., & Coache, M.E., "The recidivism rates of female sex offenders are low: A Meta-Analysis," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22; 2010). Different types of sex offenders have different recidivism rates. Research examining the recidivism of rapists and child molesters indicates that the highest observed recidivism rates are found among child molesters who offend against boys. Comparatively lower recidivism rates are found for rapists, child molesters who victimize girls and incest offenders. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this summary are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the SMART Office or the U.S. Department of Justice. For more information about SOMAPI and this topic, visit www.smart.gov/SOMAPI. May 2017 Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 14 Filed 07/15/19 Page 18 of 18 SS@MJIJD D8CU~H:N'ti US. v. Jeffrey Epstein, l 9-cr-490 (RMB) ASSET SUMMARY -JUNE 30, 2019 6/30/19 Value Asset Cash * Fixed Income * Equities * Hedoe Funds & Private Equity ** Properties *** 9 East 71 st Street, New York, NY 10021 49 Zorro Ranch Road, Stanley New Mexico 87056 358 El Brillo Wav, Palm Beach, FL 33480 22 Avenue Foch, Paris France 75116 Great St James Island No. 6A USVI 00802 (parcels A,B,C) **** Little St James Island No. 68 USVI 00802 (parcels A,B,C) Total Assets * - $ $ $ $ 56,547,773 14,304,679 112,679,138 194,986,301 $ $ $ $ $ $ 55,931,000 17,246,208 12,380,209 8,672,823 22,498,600 63,874,223 $ 559,120,954 Values reflect oross numbers that are not net of tax ** All properties are valued at assessed values as per the most recent property tax bills *** Note the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York has stated that the value of this home is $77,000,000 as compared to the market value shown above per the June 1, 2019 orooerty tax bill **** Note this property is valued at cost basis, however the assessment on the most recent tax bill is $4,857,500