FBI investigates Jeffery Epstein death in jail – TheNigerialawyer

Disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein has committed suicide in
prison while awaiting trial on charges that he trafficked underage
girls for sex, officials and media reported Saturday, sparking an
FBI investigation.

Epstein, a convicted paedophile who befriended numerous
politicians and celebrities over the years, was found unresponsive
in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center from “an
apparent suicide”, the US Department of Justice said.

He was discovered around 6:30 am (1030 GMT) and rushed to
hospital in New York where he was pronounced dead, it added in a
statement.

“The FBI is investigating the incident,” the department
said.

The New York Times and other media quoted officials as saying
Epstein hanged himself.

The city medical examiner’s office confirmed Epstein’s death but
said nothing about what caused it. It said a medical investigation
has been opened.

Epstein’s death comes a day after a tranche of sealed legal
documents were released for the first time providing new details
about what prosecutors allege was Epstein’s sex-trafficking
operation.

It also comes just over two weeks after the 66-year-old was
found unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck after an
apparent suicide attempt.

Epstein did not appear to be showing any visible signs of
injuries when he appeared in court on July 31 following that
incident, to be told that his trial wouldn’t begin before June of
next year.

The hedge fund manager had been charged with one count of sex
trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex
trafficking of minors.

He was denied bail last month in a New York court because he was
deemed a flight risk.

Epstein denied the charges and had faced up to 45 years in
prison — effectively the rest of his life — if convicted.

The Metropolitan Correction Center, a federal facility in
Manhattan that is often used to house suspects awaiting or during
trial, is considered one of the most secure penal establishments in
the US.

The infamous Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman
spent more than two years there before being convicted and
transferred to a federal prison in Colorado.

– Sexual massages –
Epstein’s death quickly raised questions about how he could take
his own life despite reportedly being put on suicide watch after
his first failed attempt.

“We need answers. Lots of them,” tweeted New York Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Michael Bromwich, a former inspector general at the Justice
Department, called for an “immediate and comprehensive”
investigation to “determine who is responsible.”

On Friday, two thousand pages of documents focusing on testimony
by a victim who claimed she was a “sex slave” of Epstein were
released by a New York court.

In them, Virginia Giuffre, now an adult, claims that she was
forced to have sex with some well-known American political and
business personalities. They have all strenuously denied the
allegations.

Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage
teenagers, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm
Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.

They claim that Epstein was “well aware that many of the victims
were minors.”

The girls were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him,
perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors
allege.

They say Epstein had an army of recruiters, often not much older
than their targets, who would approach vulnerable teens.

Epstein is also accused of paying off possible co-conspirators
to “influence” them, US media have reported.

Epstein, whose friends have included President Donald Trump,
former president Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, was
convicted previously of paying young girls for sexual massages at
his Palm Beach mansion.

They have all denied knowing anything about his alleged
crimes.

Epstein avoided federal prosecution under a plea deal that
required him to admit to a single Florida state charge of
soliciting prostitution from a minor and register as a sex
offender.

He served 13 months in a county jail before being released in
2009.

Last month, Alex Acosta resigned as US labor secretary amid a
backlash over the deal that he negotiated with Epstein in that case
while he was a federal prosecutor in Florida.

(AFP)

RevolutionNow: Dan-Halilu to Observe Sallah in DSS’
custody

The erstwhile Politics Editor of DailyTrust newspaper, Mr.
Ibrahim Dan-Halilu, is still in the custody of the Department of
Security Services (DSS), six days after he was arrested by
operatives of the Services at his Kaduna residence, PRNigeria^[1] can authoritatively
report.

The Muslim journalist may observe his Eid-Kabir Islamic
Celebration in detention rather with his family.

Though the DSS, it was learnt questioned Dan-Halilu on whether
he has any acquaintance or professional relationship with Mr.
Omoyele Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow, a group which agitated
for a revolution in the country (earlier in the week); their
operatives in Kaduna have still refused to release him from
detention.

PRNigeria^[2] gathered that the
intelligence service questioned him about the motive of his
‘provoking’ Facebook post and sought his relationship with Sowore.
The DSS operatives are yet to find any incriminating proof or
evidence as to the claim that Mr. Dan-Halilu secretly lended a
‘tacit’ support for change of government thorough any violent
revolution.

The intelligence agency’s ‘stubborn’ resolve to still keep the
former Politics Editor in their custody is perhaps because they
suspected he either knows Mr. Sowore closely or he is a now
sympathizer of the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) even though he was staunch supporter of President
Buhari until 2018.

A friend to Danhalilu told PRNigeria^[3] that those behind
Dan-Halilu’s arrest think that unlike other Nigerians, the
Ex-Politics Editor and former Buhari fan from the North does not
have a right to air his grievances and express his displeasure over
burning national issues.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dan-Halilu’s lawyers are working assiduously
behind the scene to ensure the veteran Editor regain his freedom
without unnecessary delay.

A journalist, Ibrahim Dan-Halilu was arrested in Kaduna for
allegedly supporting the activities of RevolutionNow in a Facebook
post. The group, which is agitating for a revolution movement in
Nigeria, was convened by Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of Sahara
Reporters and Presidential Candidate of Action Democratic Congress
(ADC) in the 2019 election.

Mr. Dan-Halilu a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu before
the 2015 elections and was once a communication specialist with
USAID, Information Assistant at the US Embassy and a Regional
Communication Specialist for Family Health.

By PRNigeria^[4]