Slick Willie's Buddy;
uly 23, 2009 --
JEFFREY Epstein is a free man. Yesterday, the massage-loving billionaire financier was released six months early from his 18-month prison sentence in Florida because he's cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Epstein, who pleaded guilty to procuring teenage girls for prostitution, is helping the feds prosecute Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, the Bear Stearns hedge fund managers who allegedly took him for $67 million. Cioffi and Tannin are set to go on trial in Brooklyn federal court on Sept. 28 on charges of misleading investors in their subprime mortgage investment fund, which went bust last year.
Epstein was given work release from his dorm at the Palm Beach County sheriff's 17-acre, 967-bed stockade. "He's been visiting the offices of his lawyer, Jack Goldberger,12 hours a day, six days a week," said one source. "He was supposedly working on his personal charity, but he was really working with the feds."
Epstein, 56, who used to hobnob with the likes of Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, has a mansion in Palm Beach, a ranch in Santa Fe, the largest private house in Manhattan and his own private island in the Bahamas he calls "St. Jeff's."
Investigative reporter John Connolly told Page Six that Epstein was so happy with Goldberger, who negotiated his plea deal, he gave the lawyer a brand-new black BMW.
A friend of Epstein told Page Six, "If Jeffrey is helping the government, the IQ of the government just went up." As Epstein prepared to sleep in his own bed, the friend said, "This is a difficult time for him. He's looking for a new beginning."
But he still has his old friends. Jail records indicate he was visited more than 67 times by model Nadia Marcinkova, the "assistant" who police say wrangled teen masseuses for Epstein and joined in the sordid sex play. |
