Who were the key investigators and agencies involved in the 2019 Epstein arrest?
Executive summary
Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) brought the July 2019 indictment that led to Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest; the arrest was announced by SDNY’s U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman alongside FBI New York leadership and the NYPD [1]. Epstein was taken into custody by federal agents at Teterboro Airport — part of an FBI–NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force operation reported in contemporaneous accounts [2] [1].
1. The lead prosecutors: Southern District of New York took over and indicted
Manhattan federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York obtained the federal indictment in early July 2019 and announced charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy; Geoffrey S. Berman, then the U.S. Attorney for SDNY, was the named prosecutor who publicly announced the arrest and charges [1] [3]. News and later DOJ materials emphasize that SDNY revived the case and pursued a grand jury indictment which framed the alleged conduct as a multi-state sex‑trafficking scheme [4] [3].
2. FBI leadership and the arrest operation: FBI New York and a task force
The FBI’s New York Field Office was a central investigative and operational partner: William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York field office, was a named official at the SDNY press announcement, and FBI agents carried out the arrest and follow-up searches of Epstein properties [1] [5]. Reporting and public records identify the arrest as executed by the FBI–NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force at Teterboro Airport when Epstein returned from Europe [2] [1].
3. NYPD involvement: local policing coordinated with federal agents
New York City Police Department leadership was publicly part of the arrest announcement — Commissioner James P. O’Neill was named at the SDNY press conference — reflecting coordination between federal prosecutors, the FBI and city police during the arrest and evidence collection in New York [1]. Local law-enforcement participation was also visible in search warrants and property searches conducted after the arrest [5].
4. Historical context and complementary investigations: Florida beginnings and prior FBI involvement
The 2019 indictment built on a long history of investigation that began in Palm Beach and involved earlier FBI work; reporting documents that the FBI had been investigating Epstein since the mid-2000s after state prosecution in Florida, and that the 2019 federal probe revisited evidence and victims not covered by the 2008 non‑prosecution agreement [6] [4]. The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility and other DOJ releases recount how SDNY’s 2019 indictment alleged abuse spanning New York and Florida and followed renewed federal attention [3] [4].
5. Who else played institutional roles: DOJ, task forces, and later transparency fights
Beyond SDNY, the broader Department of Justice and its components (including the FBI) provided investigative resources and later custody of the case files; public releases in subsequent years show the FBI’s Sentinel system and large quantities of seized evidence from searches of Epstein properties [5] [7]. Congress, oversight committees and state law-enforcement bodies subsequently sought and released related records — part of a contested transparency fight evident in 2024–2025 reporting [5] [7] [8].
6. Names of individual investigators: what's in the record (and what’s not)
Contemporaneous DOJ and press announcements explicitly name senior officials — Geoffrey S. Berman (SDNY), William F. Sweeney Jr. (FBI New York), and James P. O’Neill (NYPD) — as public faces of the arrest and indictment [1]. Sources mention other FBI agents and task-force personnel in operational roles (for example, the FBI–NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force) but do not provide a comprehensive roster of individual investigators in the documents summarized here [2] [1]. Available sources do not mention a full list of every lead line investigator or case agent by name.
7. Disputes, reviews and legacy: why the 2019 arrest triggered scrutiny
The 2019 federal indictment and arrest prompted political and institutional fallout — notably the resignation of Alexander Acosta from his Cabinet post over the 2008 plea deal controversy — and spurred calls for release of files and oversight reviews of how prior investigations were handled [6] [3] [8]. Reporting and later government releases show continuing efforts by Congress, the DOJ and state actors to review files and pursue potential co-conspirators [5] [7].
Limitations and notes on sources: this summary uses official DOJ announcements and mainstream news accounts that name the SDNY, the FBI New York Field Office and the NYPD as the principal agencies involved in the July 2019 arrest and indictment [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not provide an exhaustive list of every investigator or all internal task‑force members; for those details, the declassified case files and agency records being released or described in later reporting would be the place to look [7] [5].