Epstein Data Wiki

Alfredo Rodriguez

Properties2
tagsperson, palm-beach, epstein-staff, obstruction-of-justice
aliasesAlfredo Rodriquez

18 min read

RoleHouse manager to Jeffrey Epstein, 358 El Brillo Way, Palm Beach, November 2004 – May 20051
ConvictionObstruction of an official proceeding, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c), on a guilty plea, 201023
CaseUnited States v. Alfredo Rodriguez, No. 10-80015-CR-Marra (S.D. Fla.)45
Sentence18 months’ imprisonment, two years’ supervised release, imposed June 18, 20106
Died2014, as reported by the Palm Beach Post in 20187

Alfredo Rodriguez was the house manager at Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, 358 El Brillo Way, from November 2004 to May 2005.1 He was interviewed by Palm Beach police detectives in November 2005 and gave a sworn statement to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in January 2006 describing the arrangements for the massages Epstein received at the house.891 He was interviewed by the FBI on January 18, 2007 and was deposed twice in 2009 in the civil suits brought against Epstein.1011 In August 2009, after the second deposition, he offered to sell a bound book he had taken from the residence to a plaintiffs’ attorney for $50,000; the attorney contacted the FBI, and Rodriguez was recorded selling the book to an undercover FBI employee on November 3, 2009.1112 He was charged by criminal complaint in December 2009, pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding, and was sentenced on June 18, 2010 to 18 months in prison.1326 The book he had concealed was marked as Government Exhibit 52 in the 2021 prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, and the government told the court it sought to offer selected excerpts from it.3 The Palm Beach Post reported in 2018 that he died in 2014.7

The Palm Beach police investigation

Rodriguez was one of the former Epstein employees Palm Beach Police Department detectives sought to interview in case 1-05-000368.8 On November 9, 2005 detectives drove to Rodriguez’s Miami address “in hopes to interview Alfredo Rodriguez, a former house man of Epstein,” found no one home, and left a business card; Rodriguez telephoned at about 9:47 a.m. the next morning.8 In that call he said he had worked for Epstein for about six months, that “it was his responsibility to keep the identity of the masseuses private,” and that Epstein had a massage in the morning and one in the afternoon; he said he would rather speak in private and would come to the police station.14

A narrative entered on December 21, 2005 records that a detective contacted an assistant state attorney “in an attempt to subpoena the Epstein former houseman, Alfredo Rodriguez,” and states that Rodriguez, “who resides in Miami, had eluded the process servers previously and was not served the investigative subpoena.”15 He was subsequently served, and in early January 2006 the State Attorney’s Office notified the detective that Rodriguez was present at its offices for an interview under an investigative subpoena; that interview produced the sworn taped statement summarised in the next section.91

See the Palm Beach Police Department investigation.

Employment at 358 El Brillo Way

In a sworn taped statement to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in early January 2006, Rodriguez said he had been employed by Epstein for approximately six months, from November 2004 through May 2005, that he had been referred by associates, and that his responsibilities as house manager “included being the butler, chauffer, chef, houseman, run errands for Mr. Epstein and provide for Epstein’s guests.”1 He said he had very limited contact with Epstein himself, relaying messages through Epstein’s secretary in New York and Epstein’s personal assistant, and that Epstein “did not want to see or hear the staff when he was in residence.”1

Rodriguez told detectives that Epstein had two massages a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, on every day he was in residence, and that Rodriguez would be told to expect a visitor, let her into the kitchen and offer her food or drink before she was taken upstairs.1 Asked whether the masseuses appeared young, he said he had not asked their ages “but felt they were very young” and that they “appeared to be too young to be masseuses.”1 He described cleaning the bedroom after the massages, and said Epstein had ordered him to keep a minimum of $2,000 in cash on him at all times to pay visitors when Epstein was not at the house; he described himself as a “human ATM machine.”1 He also said Epstein had directed him to buy gifts to give as tips.16

Rodriguez told the detective that he had kept a journal during his employment recording who visited the house, “in the event he needed to explain either to Mr. Epstein or his assistants what was done at the house or who visited the house,” and that he had been in charge of Epstein’s personal security in Palm Beach.16 On January 6, 2006 he met the detective in a bank parking lot in Boca Raton and handed over a green folder of documents, which was placed into evidence at the Palm Beach police station.16

Civil depositions, 2009

Epstein’s accusers filed civil damages suits in state and federal court in Florida beginning in 2008.1117 Rodriguez was a subpoenaed witness in that litigation and was deposed under oath twice in 2009; according to the FBI affidavit, the first deposition was on July 27, 2009 and the second on August 9, 2009, and on both occasions he testified that he had no documents responsive to the subpoena duces tecum served on him.11 The transcript of a continued videotaped deposition is dated August 7, 2009 and was taken in North Miami in the consolidated Jane Doe actions against Epstein.18

In that session Rodriguez was asked about Ghislaine Maxwell’s office at the Palm Beach house.19 He said it was “[u]nder the stairs next to the kitchen” and that it held computer equipment.19 He testified that Maxwell’s computer held a list of the girls who came to give massages, with their telephone numbers, and photographs of them.1920 Asked whether he noticed any nude photographs among those pictures he answered “Yes, ma’am,” but said they did not appear to have been taken at the house.2021 Epstein’s counsel objected to the form of most of these questions.20 Maxwell was not a party to those suits and did not testify in that deposition; she argued in later litigation that testimony given in a matter to which she was not a party, at which she was not present and of which she had no notice could not be used against her.1822

On February 17, 2010 a plaintiff in Doe v. Epstein, No. 9:08-cv-80119 (S.D. Fla.), moved to compel Rodriguez’s compliance with her subpoena and for a finding of contempt.17

The obstruction case

The FBI’s Miami Division opened an obstruction of justice case, 72-MM-113327, into Rodriguez in October 2009.2324 The account given in the sworn affidavit of Special Agent Christina J. Pryor, filed with the criminal complaint, is as follows.10

Agents met a cooperating witness on October 27, 2009 who reported that Rodriguez, a subpoenaed witness in a pending civil case, had contacted him in August 2009 after the second deposition to say he had information he had not disclosed to any law enforcement agency or civil attorney.1011 Rodriguez described it as “the Holy Grail or Golden Nugget” and said “he had compiled lists of additional victims in the case and their contact information.”11 He asked $50,000 for the documents; told that he was under subpoena and that demanding money was illegal, he “persisted that he would only turn over the information in his possession in exchange for $50,000.00.”1125

On October 28, 2009 the witness telephoned Rodriguez in a consensually monitored call and told him an associate would be in touch; the associate was an FBI undercover employee.25 On October 29 the undercover employee reached Rodriguez, who said he would turn over the information only for payment.25 He “admitted that he knew that the information was relevant to the FBI’s criminal investigation,” and said he had not turned it over because “(1) it was his ‘property’ and he should be compensated for it; and (2) he was afraid that the target of the investigation would make him ‘disappear’ or otherwise harm him, and the information was his ‘insurance policy.’”25

On November 3, 2009 Rodriguez met the undercover employee at a predetermined location and “produced a small bound book and several sheets of legal pad paper containing hand written notes.”12 He said he had taken the book from his former employer’s residence while employed there in 2004 to 2005 and that it had been created by people working for his former employer; he discussed its contents, admitted he had previously lied to the FBI, took the $50,000 and began counting it.12 He was detained, given Miranda warnings, signed a written waiver, and admitted he had never turned the documents over to local law enforcement or the FBI.12 He also told agents that he had seen girls at the pool whom he believed were underage, that he knew his former employer was engaging in sexual contact with underage girls, and that he had seen images on computers in the house that he believed were of underage girls.12 He was released for further investigation.12 Audio and video surveillance of the November 3 operation and the recorded calls were logged to the FBI’s electronic surveillance records in February 2010.26

An agent familiar with the underlying investigation reviewed the seized items and concluded that they held material information, including witness and victim contact details, that would have been “extremely useful in investigating and prosecuting the case,” and that had they been produced when first sought their contents would have gone to the federal grand jury.27

The criminal complaint, No. 09-8308-LRJ, was sworn before United States Magistrate Judge Linnea R. Johnson and entered on the docket on December 9, 2009; it charged that from at least as early as January 18, 2007 through on or about November 3, 2009 Rodriguez “did corruptly conceal a record, document, or other object, with the intent to impair the object’s availability for use in an official proceeding,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c).13 On December 8, 2009 agents made contact with Rodriguez at 505 South Flagler Drive, Suite 500, West Palm Beach, the address given for the FBI’s office there, arrested him “without incident,” and transported him to the Palm Beach County Jail.2829 An Information charging the same single count was filed on January 29, 2010.4

Guilty plea and sentencing

Rodriguez agreed to plead guilty to the sole count of the Information.2 The plea agreement records that the offence carried a maximum of twenty years’ imprisonment, up to three years’ supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, and that he consented to forfeit all interest in items seized during the investigation.23031 He was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Dave Lee Brannon; the released copy of the agreement is unexecuted on its signature page, naming United States Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman above a redacted “By” line for the government, with the date lines and the Rodriguez and Brannon signature lines all blank.32

He was sentenced on June 18, 2010 before United States District Judge Kenneth A. Marra in West Palm Beach, with Assistant United States Attorney Ann Marie C. Villafana appearing for the government.533 The day before the hearing, an FBI email chain sought an agent or investigator to testify at the sentencing about how valuable the address book would have been to the original investigation, and recorded that Rodriguez “scores out to 24-30 months.”34 A recipient replied the next morning to ask whether he was needed, adding that he had seen the book only once and briefly.35

Villafana asked for 24 months, the low end of the advisory range, arguing that Rodriguez had obstructed a significant investigation and had known what the evidence he held was worth.3637 She told the court he had lost the reduction for acceptance of responsibility because on the day of his change of plea he had bought firearms from an undercover officer, conduct charged in a separate indictment on which he was expected to plead guilty; with the reduction his range would have been 15 to 21 months.373839 Asked what the concealed material would have meant for the federal case, she said there had been “significant issues related to federal prosecution of the Epstein case in terms of the interstate nexus,” and that the book and what Rodriguez provided after his arrest would have answered them.38 Asked about other copies, she said Rodriguez had told interviewers that multiple copies had been made and kept at Epstein’s homes, and that the seized copy was, in her words, “the only copy that’s known to law enforcement.”39

Brannon argued that Rodriguez had not realised for some time that he still had the book, that he had cooperated in the early stages of the investigation, and that it was “something that doesn’t look quite right” for Epstein’s house man to serve longer than Epstein; he asked for 18 months.4041 Rodriguez told the court: “I’m really sorry for what I did, and I just pray that the Court to be merciful to me, sir.”41

Marra imposed a sentence below the advisory guideline range, saying that Rodriguez would be punished separately for the firearms case and that “there is some logic to the argument that Mr. Rodriguez here shouldn’t be punished more severely than Mr. Epstein,” while adding that “if this book had been produced, Mr. Epstein’s sentence might have been significantly different.”4243 The sentence was 18 months’ imprisonment, two years’ supervised release and a $100 special assessment, with a recommendation that he serve it in the Miami area.644

The book afterwards

Agents seized the book from Rodriguez in 2009, and it remained in the FBI’s possession.3 In a November 12, 2021 letter to the court in United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, No. 20 Cr. 330, the government described Government Exhibit 52 as “a contact book belonging to the defendant,” said it sought to offer selected excerpts from the exhibit, and recounted in a footnote that Rodriguez had attempted to sell the same item to a plaintiff’s attorney in 2009, that he had said he took it from Epstein’s Palm Beach residence during his employment there, and that he had pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and acknowledged that he should have turned it over to the FBI years earlier.3 The letter cites his criminal case as United States v. Alfredo Rodriguez, 10 Cr. 80015 (KAM), and states that “Rodriguez passed away following the conclusion of the criminal case.”345

In Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), the plaintiff designated excerpts of Rodriguez’s 2009 deposition for use at trial and argued in opposition to a motion in limine that the testimony was admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1) because Rodriguez had died and was unavailable as a witness.46 Maxwell’s motion in limine argued that testimony given in matters to which she “was not a party, was not present, had no notice, and did not participate” could not be designated against her, and noted that Rodriguez “is now deceased, and thus not deposed in conjunction with the present litigation.”22 Her motion dates the deposition it sought to exclude to July 29, 2009, a third date for the sessions in that series.22

An FBI case serial index for the Epstein investigation lists “INTERVIEW OF ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ” as serial 75.47 An FBI electronic communication of June 17, 2013 documents the return of property to Rodriguez on FBI form FD-597.48

Death

The Palm Beach Post reported in May 2018 that Rodriguez, “who lived in Kendall, died in 2014.”7 The government’s 2021 letter in the Maxwell case states only that he died after the conclusion of his criminal case.45

Coverage

  • Susan Spencer-Wendel, “Ex-Epstein worker faces obstruction charges,” The Palm Beach Post, January 26, 2010.49
  • The Daily Beast, 2010, reporting the attempted sale and the pending firearms sentencing.50
  • Jane Musgrave, The Palm Beach Post, May 31, 2018, which noted that Rodriguez was the only witness named in the FBI records then posted to the bureau’s FOIA library.7
  • Daily Mail, January 10, 2015, which summarised the 2009 deposition testimony about Maxwell’s office; its paraphrase differs from the transcript.51

Footnotes

  1. Incident Report, sworn taped statement of Alfredo Rodriguez, p.71. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.24. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. Plea agreement, No. 10-80015-Cr-Marra/Hopkins, ¶1. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00207761 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Letter from the United States Attorney, S.D.N.Y., to Hon. Alison J. Nathan, Nov. 12, 2021, United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, No. 20 Cr. 330, Dkt. 457, pp.1, 5 & n.3. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02834801 pp.1, 5. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. Information, United States v. Alfredo Rodriguez, No. 9:10-cr-80015-KAM (S.D. Fla.), filed Jan. 29, 2010. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00214122 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  5. Transcript of sentencing proceedings, United States v. Alfredo Rodriguez, No. 10-80015-CR-Marra, June 18, 2010, p.1. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  6. Sentencing transcript, p.17. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.17. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Jane Musgrave, “FBI: Sex offender Epstein provided info in plea deal,” The Palm Beach Post, May 31, 2018, preserved at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01387783 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Palm Beach Police Department, Incident Report, Case No. 1-05-000368, narratives of Nov. 13–14, 2005, p.50. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Incident Report, narrative #33, reported Jan. 5, 2006, p.70. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.23. ↩ ↩2

  10. Affidavit of Special Agent Christina J. Pryor in support of the complaint, ¶¶1–4. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Pryor affidavit, ¶¶4–7. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. Pryor affidavit, ¶¶11–12. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.5. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  13. Criminal complaint, United States v. Alfredo Rodriguez, No. 09-8308-LRJ (S.D. Fla.), entered on the docket Dec. 9, 2009. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  14. Incident Report, p.51. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.4. ↩

  15. Incident Report, narrative #28, reported and entered Dec. 21, 2005, p.64. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.17. ↩

  16. Incident Report, pp.72 (statement continued; narrative #34, Jan. 9–10, 2006). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.25. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  17. Doe v. Epstein, No. 9:08-cv-80119 (S.D. Fla.), civil docket, entry 469 (Feb. 17, 2010). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01660040 pp.1, 32. ↩ ↩2

  18. Continued videotaped deposition of Alfredo Rodriguez, Aug. 7, 2009, North Miami, taken in the consolidated Jane Doe actions against Jeffrey Epstein (S.D. Fla. and 15th Jud. Cir., Palm Beach County), transcript pp.271–274. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01248167 p.2. ↩ ↩2

  19. Rodriguez deposition, transcript p.302. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01248167 p.9. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. Rodriguez deposition, transcript pp.303–306. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01248167 p.10. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. Rodriguez deposition, transcript p.307. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01248167 p.11. ↩

  22. Defendant’s motion in limine to exclude in toto certain depositions designated by plaintiff for use at trial, Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), § III. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02794741 pp.1, 16. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  23. FBI Electronic Communication, Miami PB-2 to Newark, Sept. 2, 2010, case 72-MM-113327. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01326139 ↩

  24. FBI timeline of the Epstein investigations, obstruction section (case 72-MM-113327). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01656198 pp.2, 4. ↩

  25. Pryor affidavit, ¶¶7–10. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.4. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  26. FBI Electronic Communication regarding late submission of recordings to ELSUR, Feb. 4, 2010, case 72-MM-113327-ELA. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01326156 ↩

  27. Pryor affidavit, ¶13. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00608045 p.6. ↩

  28. FBI Electronic Communication, “Alfredo Rodriguez placed under arrest and transported,” entry dated Dec. 15, 2009. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01326094 ↩

  29. Signature block, FBI Miami Division, 505 Flagler Dr., Ste. 500, West Palm Beach. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01657307 p.2. ↩

  30. Plea agreement, ¶¶2–4. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00207761 p.2. ↩

  31. Plea agreement, ¶13. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00207761 p.9. ↩

  32. Plea agreement, signature page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00207761 p.10. ↩

  33. Sentencing transcript, p.2. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.2. ↩

  34. FBI email chain, “Alfredo Rodriguez/Epstein,” June 17, 2010, 4:37 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01657307 p.1. ↩

  35. FBI email chain, “Alfredo Rodriguez/Epstein,” June 18, 2010, 11:14 UTC. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01657307 p.1. ↩

  36. Sentencing transcript, p.3. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.3. ↩

  37. Sentencing transcript, p.4. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.4. ↩ ↩2

  38. Sentencing transcript, p.12. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.12. ↩ ↩2

  39. Sentencing transcript, p.13. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.13. ↩ ↩2

  40. Sentencing transcript, p.10. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.10. ↩

  41. Sentencing transcript, p.11. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.11. ↩ ↩2

  42. Sentencing transcript, p.15. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.15. ↩

  43. Sentencing transcript, p.16. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.16. ↩

  44. Sentencing transcript, p.18. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01736057 p.18. ↩

  45. Same letter, footnote 3 continued, p.6. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02834801 p.6. ↩ ↩2

  46. Plaintiff’s response in opposition to defendant’s motion in limine to exclude certain depositions designated for use at trial, Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), § III. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02794810 pp.1, 14. ↩

  47. FBI case file serial index, serial 75. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688359 p.3. ↩

  48. FBI Electronic Communication, “EC return of property to Alfredo Rodriguez,” June 17, 2013, case 72-MM-113327. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01326151 ↩

  49. Susan Spencer-Wendel, “Ex-Epstein worker faces obstruction charges,” The Palm Beach Post, Jan. 26, 2010, clipping preserved in the FBI file. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688916 p.11. ↩

  50. The Daily Beast, “Jeffrey Epstein, Billionaire Pedophile, Goes Free,” 2010, printout preserved in the corpus. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00599855 p.24. ↩

  51. Daily Mail (London), Jan. 10, 2015, preserved at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01402237 p.10. ↩

Backlinks