Above: Brunel with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on the billionaire\u2019s private jet<\/p>\n
A French fashion agent linked to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> was found dead in his prison cell on Friday night, the Paris prosecutor\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n Jean-Luc Brunel<\/a>, 76, was in detention awaiting a trial on charges of rape of a minor and sexual harassment.<\/p>\n Le Monde <\/em>reported his legal team as saying: \u201cHis decision was not driven by guilt, but by a deep sense of injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n Brunel was arrested in December 2020 at Paris\u2019s Charles de Gaulle airport while trying to board a plane to Senegal.<\/p>\n He co-founded modelling agency MC2 Model Management in the US with funding from Epstein.<\/p>\n Several women accused Brunel of sexual assault, and at least a dozen people were known to have given evidence for the French investigation into allegations against Epstein and his circle.<\/p>\n Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager, alleged that Brunel procured women, some of them minors, for sex with Epstein and others. He lured them with promises of modelling work, she said.<\/p>\n Epstein\u2019s illicit activities have resurfaced in recent months due to a number of high-profile cases involving his associates.<\/p>\n Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a>, the socialite daughter of late press baron Robert Maxwell and a former girlfriend of Epstein, was found guilty <\/a>in December of recruiting and grooming girls for the financier.<\/p>\n Prosecutors described Maxwell as a \u201csophisticated predator\u201d who targeted vulnerable young girls. She is set to be sentenced on 28 June and faces up to 65 years in prison \u2013 meaning the 60-year-old could spend the rest of her life behind bars.<\/p>\n Ms Giuffre, the most prominent of Epstein\u2019s accusers, said she hoped Maxwell\u2019s guilty verdict was \u201canother step in justice being served\u201d but that \u201cMaxwell did not act alone. Others must be held accountable. I have faith that they will be\u201d.<\/p>\n