Before the 2025–2026 releases, the main public record of the Epstein case was what federal prosecutors filed in court. This guide summarizes that record from the Justice Department's own announcements.
On July 8, 2019, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Jeffrey Epstein had been arrested and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. The indictment alleged that from at least 2002 through at least 2005 he sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, some as young as 14, and paid some victims to recruit others.
As the Department noted, the charges were allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Epstein was never tried.
When the Justice Department adds Epstein files or the Pentagon publishes new UFO files, we email you a short summary and a link to the official records.
Epstein was found hanged in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial. New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide. A June 2023 report by the Justice Department's Inspector General agreed it was a suicide but documented "numerous and serious failures" by the Bureau of Prisons — including missed checks, cameras that were not recording, and failure to assign him a cellmate.
On December 29, 2021, after a one-month jury trial, Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor. According to the Justice Department, the evidence showed her role in the abuse from at least 1994 through about 2004.
On June 28, 2022, Judge Alison J. Nathan sentenced her to 240 months — 20 years — in prison. In 2026 a federal judge rejected her motion to vacate the conviction.
On July 7, 2025, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo stating that a systematic review "revealed no incriminating 'client list'" and found no evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent people, and that their review supported the conclusion that he died by suicide. The memo also said no further files would be released — a position overtaken months later when Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Our standard for this section: we report only what Justice Department releases, court records, the law itself and the Inspector General say. We do not name victims, and we do not publish lists of people who appear in the files — appearing in a document is not evidence of wrongdoing. Allegations are labelled as allegations.
On July 8, 2019, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged him with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He died before trial, so the charges were never tried.
He was found hanged in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York on August 10, 2019. The medical examiner ruled it a suicide, and the DOJ Inspector General's 2023 report agreed while documenting serious failures by the Bureau of Prisons.
On December 29, 2021, a jury convicted her of five federal counts including sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 28, 2022.
Facts on this page were checked against the sources below on October 24, 2026 by Himanshu Singh. Spot an error? Email hello@nowdeclassified.com.
We'll email you when the government releases new Epstein files or Pentagon UFO files — with a link to our sourced explainer.
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