Authorities want to hear from Epstein’s pilots in sex trafficking case
New York: As part of an expanding investigation in the sex trafficking case against convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, federal prosecutors and the FBI are trying to determine who travelled on his private planes in recent years, three people with knowledge of the matter have said.
Shortly after the financier's arrest on July 6, prosecutors in Manhattan issued federal grand jury subpoenas to two of his longtime pilots, the people said.
The subpoenas sought passenger lists, flight logs and the personal notes the pilots had maintained, going back as far as they had records, the people said.
The pilots, David Rodgers and Larry Visoski, have cooperated with the inquiry, they said. At least one of the men has provided all of the material in his possession to the prosecutors in the case, from the office of the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Spokesmen for the prosecutor's office and for the FBI declined to comment. Lawyers for the pilots would not discuss the subpoenas, which were first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
Among the crimes the subpoena said were under investigation were violations of the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport a person across state lines for the purposes of prostitution, one of the people said. The indictment charging Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy does not include violations of the Mann Act, suggesting prosecutors could be considering additional charges.
This week, the US attorney's office made it clear in court documents that the investigation into his activities was continuing and involved other "uncharged individuals."
Although the subpoenas directed the pilots to appear before a federal grand jury in Manhattan last Monday, prosecutors have yet to interview the men or to have them testify, and, so far, have only sought documents, the person said.
Epstein was arrested shortly after his private jet touched down at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, on return from Paris.
A week after being denied bail, Epstein was found unconscious in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan on Tuesday. He had marks on his neck, and prison officials were investigating the incident as a possible suicide attempt. They had not ruled out the possibility, however, that Epstein had been assaulted by another inmate or had staged the incident, a person with knowledge of the investigation said.
Epstein's injuries were not serious, the law enforcement official said.
Prosecutors have said he and his employees recruited and paid dozens of adolescent girls to engage in sex acts with him in the early 2000s at his mansions in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. He pleaded not guilty and remains in jail awaiting trial.
Epstein's social circle over the years included several celebrities and politicians, among them US President Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew. He was also close to Leslie Wexner, the head of L Brands owner of Victoria's Secret, for whom he was a longtime financial adviser. All these men have denied wrongdoing and have said they did not know about Epstein's sexual relationships with minors.
Epstein was first accused in 2005 of sexually abusing teenage girls in Palm Beach, but he reached a lenient plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Miami who were investigating those allegations.
Several adolescent girls from a local high school who were 16 or younger had told the police Epstein engaged in various sex acts with them after asking them to give him massages while naked or topless, according to a summary of the police investigation.
Epstein used his private jets to travel between his palatial homes in Florida and New York, as well as to his private island in the US Virgin Islands, his sprawling ranch in New Mexico and his house in Paris.
One of the planes was nicknamed the "The Lolita Express", his accusers have said, because he often invited very young-looking women to entertain guests on trips. One woman claimed in a lawsuit and later told the Miami Herald that when she was a minor in 2000, Epstein brought her aboard one of his jets to be sexually exploited by his friends. The lawsuit was settled in 2017.
The two pilots who were subpoenaed have flown for Epstein for years.
In 2009, Visoski said in a deposition that the passenger list often included prominent politicians, academics and Hollywood celebrities. Among them, he recalled, were actor Kevin Spacey and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. (Prosecutors have not accused either of them of wrongdoing.)
Visoski said Clinton had flown on the plane 10 or 20 times, and recalled one flight, for example, when the former president was accompanied by four Secret Service agents.
"On a case where president Clinton would be on board, we would put a little extra catering on board or do that little extra TLC to the aircraft," Visoski testified.
The New York Times