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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 663 Filed 06/15/22 Page4of77 prosecution and to an investigation by the Justice Department's (“DOJ”) Office of Professional Responsibility. At the urging of civil attorneys representing Epstein’s victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) took the extraordinary step of resurrecting the decade-old case against Epstein. SDNY’s focus was always on righting the wrongs resulting from the Florida prosecution: Epstein was undercharged and under punished, Epstein never faced his accusers, and his accusers were denied justice. Epstein was the target and the focus of the prosecution until his death in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) in August 2019. Epstein’s 2019 Arrest and Aftermath On July 6, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in connection with an SDNY indictment. He was detained in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”) until his untimely death in custody on August 19, 2019. The highly publicized announcement of his arrest and detention came as a relief and vindication for women who had filed complaints against him. His capture and confinement quelled public outrage at Epstein’s lenient Florida plea deal from October 2007 and the low sentence he received. Epstein’s death approximately one month after his arrest eliminated any prospect of a trial, again shocking and disappointing his accusers. It also highlighted the failure of the U.S. government to ensure that an inmate in federal custody, in such a sensitive and high- profile case, could be kept safe and alive to face trial. In the face of strong media and public uproar following Epstein’s death, the government faced an urgency to appease the renewed distress of Epstein’s accusers and to repair the tarnished reputations of the DOJ and BOP in whose custody Epstein died. There would be no trial for Epstein and no public vindication and justice for his accusers. The government now had a huge hole to fill: Epstein’s empty chair. Although four women had been specifically named as co- DOJ-OGR-00010450