Alfredo Rodriguez copied a 97-page contact book from Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. It contained over 1,500 names of some of the most powerful people in the world. He called it the “Holy Grail.” For trying to sell it for $50,000, he was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. That’s longer than Epstein himself ever served. The billionaires, politicians, and celebrities listed inside the book were never charged with anything.
What Rodriguez Saw Inside the Mansion
Rodriguez worked as Epstein’s house manager and butler from 2004 to 2005. During that time, he witnessed a steady stream of underage girls arriving at the property for so-called “massages,” which he understood to be sexual in nature. Epstein had two of these sessions a day, often involving minors.
Rodriguez described acting as a “human ATM,” keeping a minimum of $2,000 in cash on hand to pay the girls $200 to $300 after each visit. He cleaned up after the sessions, including wiping down and storing sex toys. He saw nude underage girls lounging by the pool. He noted the girls ate like typical high schoolers, consuming “tons of cereal and milk.” Everything about the operation was normalized inside that house.
In a 2006 deposition for a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein’s victims, Rodriguez testified that he saw pornographic images on Epstein’s computer of girls as young as 12 or 13, many of them wearing braces. He initially estimated the ages at 16 or 17, but when pressed, admitted they were younger than that. His testimony corroborated what dozens of victims had already described.
The Black Book
Fearing that Epstein might make him “disappear,” Rodriguez secretly copied the contact book before leaving his employment. It contained names and multiple phone numbers, emails, and addresses of high-profile figures from politics, business, entertainment, and royalty, including numbers for homes, private jets, and islands. Rodriguez personally circled roughly 38 names he believed were most significant to the network.
The book was more than a contact list. It also contained the names of hundreds of potential victims and witnesses, along with cryptic notes, stars, and arrows added by Epstein’s staff. Rodriguez described it as the key to understanding the full scope of what Epstein was doing with underage girls.
It’s worth noting that being listed in the book does not imply involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Many of the 1,500 names had no alleged connection to the abuse.
The FBI Sting
Rodriguez had been interviewed by the FBI as early as January 2007 but never mentioned the book. He failed to turn it over despite being served with subpoenas.
In November 2009, at a Boca Raton hotel, Rodriguez attempted to sell the book for $50,000 to someone he believed was an attorney representing Epstein’s victims. It was an FBI sting. A 46-minute video of the transaction, recently released in DOJ document dumps, shows Rodriguez discussing the book’s contents and Epstein’s operations in detail.
He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced on April 1, 2012, by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to 18 months in federal prison. His defense cited financial ruin from his association with Epstein. The sentence was longer than the 13 months Epstein served on his own state charges in 2008, during which Epstein was granted work release privileges.
Why Didn’t He Just Turn It Over?
The obvious question is why Rodriguez didn’t hand the book to the FBI when they interviewed him in 2007 or when he was served with subpoenas. The answer is probably a combination of things.
His defense argued he was financially ruined after working for Epstein. He needed money, he had something valuable, and he tried to cash in. That’s the version the prosecution ran with.
But by 2009, Rodriguez had watched the system protect Epstein in real time. Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, brokered by then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, gave him just 13 months on state charges with work release privileges and included a non-prosecution agreement that shielded unnamed co-conspirators. If the justice system had already failed that badly, why would Rodriguez trust the FBI with the most important piece of evidence he had?
Rodriguez himself described the book as “insurance” against Epstein, meaning he believed holding onto it gave him personal protection. Turning it over meant losing that leverage and potentially making himself a target with nothing to show for it.
The conspiracy-minded read is that Rodriguez believed the book would be buried if he gave it to law enforcement, and that selling it to a victims’ attorney was actually the more likely path to it seeing the light of day.
The irony is that all of these explanations can be true at the same time.
Rodriguez Died Before the Full Story Came Out
Rodriguez was released around mid-2013. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure. He died on December 28, 2014, at age 60, in a Miami hospital. Some reports incorrectly claim he died in prison, but he had been free for roughly 18 months before passing.
His death is one of over two dozen among Epstein-connected individuals since the scandal emerged. There is no evidence linking his death to foul play, though it has fueled speculation among conspiracy theorists.
The black book Rodriguez risked everything to preserve was first published by Gawker in 2015 and has since been analyzed in books, court filings, and investigative reports. Recent DOJ releases in 2025 and 2026 have included more unredacted Epstein files, reigniting discussions about witnesses like Rodriguez and what they knew. His story remains one of the clearest examples of how the people closest to the evidence faced harsher consequences than the people closest to the crimes.
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