In 2019, federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York asked New Mexico authorities to stop their own sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling Zorro Ranch, located south of Santa Fe, in an effort to avoid potential conflicts with the federal case and the risk of “inconsistent statements” from parallel investigations. At the time, then-New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas agreed to pause the state probe and share investigative materials — including police reports and witness interviews — with the federal team, with the understanding that federal prosecutors would provide information back that could support potential state charges. However, Balderas has since said he is unaware of any substantial information ever being shared back to New Mexico that could have led to prosecutions at the state level before Epstein’s death in August 2019.


The now-released correspondence shows that the federal request effectively “gutted” New Mexico’s investigation, and Balderas has described the cooperation as essentially one-way. Records also reveal he urged federal authorities to seize the ranch and offered assistance to execute warrants, but received no response, and none of the material New Mexico sent appears among the files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In light of the newly disclosed DOJ records, current New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has announced that the state is reopening its investigation into alleged trafficking at Zorro Ranch, and a bipartisan legislative truth-finding commission has been formed to subpoena witnesses and gather testimony as part of renewed scrutiny of activities tied to Epstein’s former property.


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Feds asked New Mexico to halt Jeffrey Epstein Zorro Ranch sex trafficking probe, records show