US federal judge formally dismisses criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein, three weeks after custodial death

Washington DC: A US federal judge on Thursday formally dismissed the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein, roughly three weeks after the accused sex trafficker was found dead in his jail cell.

Judge Richard Berman, who was overseeing the case, approved a request filed by prosecutors to dismiss the federal sex trafficking charges following the multimillionaire’s death on 10 August, reported CNN.

Although the criminal case has been dismissed, the prosecutors have indicated that the investigations against co-conspirators who supported his alleged operation, would continue.

In addition, several of Epstein’s accusers have filed major lawsuits against his estate since the multimillionaire was found dead in his cell last month.

Epstein had been behind the bars since July when he pleaded not guilty to charges by New York federal prosecutors after an indictment accused him of running sex racket of teenage girls.

A judge had rejected a bail request from him that month.

Prosecutors had unsealed an indictment accusing Epstein of running a prostitution racket with the underage girls at his Upper East Side residence and his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.

The autopsy reports, which came earlier this month, had concluded that the cause of Epstein’s death was suicide by hanging.