French fashion agent Jean-Luc Brunel, linked to American financier Jeffery Epstein, was found dead in his prison cell on the night of February 18, in Paris.

76-year-old Brunel, who was currently awaiting trial in detention, on charges of rape of a minor and sexual harassment, was suspected of being part of a global pardon hike ring organised by Epstein, who was also awaiting trial on similar charges till he committed suicide in prison, in 2019.

Brunel who co-owned the MC2 Model Management in the United States which was funded by Epstein, was accused by U.S. prosecutors of supplying underaged girls to the financier.

According to reports from the French press, Lawyers for the fashion agent suggested he had killed himself. 

“His decision was not driven by guilt, but by a deep sense of injustice.” Le Monde reported his legal team as saying.

Several women accused Brunel of sexual assault, with evidence against him and his circle.

Campaigner and advocate of justice for sex trafficking survivors Virginia Giuffre, who also claimed that she was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager, reported that Brunel allegedly lured women and minors for sex with Epstein and others, through his agency, with promises of modeling.

Brunel was arrested in December 2020 at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport while trying to board a plane to Senegal.

Also arrested, tried and found guilty in December, was the former girlfriend of Epstein and a socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of late press baron Robert Maxwell, for targeting, recruiting and grooming vulnerable young girls for the circle.

Maxwell who was described as a “sophisticated predator” will be sentenced in June 28, and the 60-year-old could face up to 65 years in prison.