As The New York Times reported, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. At that point, a justice department indictment had implicated him in dozens of sex acts with minors, among other charges, as The Times notes. If convicted of those crimes, Epstein could spend 45 years in prison. Despite the high-profile nature of his case, Epstein first entered the M.C.C. (pictured) as part of the jail’s general population, and as a result, restrictions on his life were relatively light. The fact that Epstein was not placed in a more restrictive circumstance was later attributed to an oversight — just one of many that would turn up in the days leading to and after Epstein’s death.
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Once Epstein’s status at the M.C.C was discovered, he was moved from the general jail population to the Special Housing Unit (S.H.U.). From the time that he first arrived, Epstein was described as looking sad, dazed, confused, and withdrawn, based on Federal Bureau of Prison records obtained by The New York Times. Concern for Epstein’s mental well-being worsened after his move to the S.H.U. Expected he would be denied bail, Epstein underwent and passed several psychological evaluations and was put under “psychological observation,” described by The Times as one step away from suicide watch. While under psychological observation, specially designated inmates filed reports every 15 minutes on Epstein’s status.
