A New York cop turned drug dealer who once shared a cell with high-profile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has been convicted of murdering four people. Nicholas Tartaglione was found guilty Thursday of committing what prosecutors have described as “gangland-style” killings in 2016.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams described Tartaglione as a “former police officer turned drug dealer” who suspected that one of his victims, Martin Luna, stole around $200,000 (£160,000) from him.
He lured in Luna and his two nephews Miguel Luna and Urbano Santiago as well as their family friend Hector Gutierrez into a “deadly trap”.
Williams said in a statement: “What occurred next could only be described as pure terror, as Tartaglione tortured Martin, then forced one of his nephews to watch as Tartaglione strangled Martin to death with a zip-tie.”
Williams added: “Tartaglione’s heinous acts represent a broader betrayal, as he was a former police officer who once swore to protect the very community he devastated.”
He added: “A jury has found Tartaglione guilty of these heinous acts, sending a message that no one is above the law.”
The former cop was housed with disgraced financier Epstein at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Epstein was later found hanging dead in his cell, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The New York City medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death as a suicide by hanging, but Epstein’s lawyers challenged the medical examiner’s conclusion and launched their own investigation.
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Tartaglione was reportedly questioned following the apparent suicide attempt by Epstein on July 23, 2019, following accusations that the ex-cop “roughed him up”.
The former officer is thought to have told officials he didn’t notice anything related to the apparent suicide attempt and claimed that he did nothing to hurt Epstein, who was found in his cell semi-conscious and balled up in the fetal position with marks on his neck.
The ex-cop and his lawyer fought the accusations, and no charge was filed for the indecent.
A law enforcement source even told the New York Daily News that Tartaglione claimed to help Epstein after discovering him unconscious in his cell during his alleged suicide attempt.
Tartaglione was later moved out of Epstein’s cell. The disgraced financier was then placed on suicide watch but died two weeks later.
Epstein was being held on child sex trafficking and conspiracy charges after his arrest in July 2019.
Prosecutors said he sexually abused multiple young girls in his New York and Florida homes between 2002 and 2005. The financier pleaded not guilty and was facing a 45-year prison sentence if convicted.
His former partner, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was also slapped with a 20-year jail sentence for running a “pyramid scheme of abuse” and trafficking girls and young women for sex alongside Epstein.
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