Nicholas Tartaglione

Nicholas John Tartaglione ( TAR-tag-LEE-ohn; born October 10, 1967) is an American former police officer who was convicted of drug trafficking and the murder of four people. He is also known for being a cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein. After graduating from the Westchester County police academy in 1993, Tartaglione worked at several local departments. From 1996 to 2008, Tartaglione worked for the Briarcliff Manor Police Department, where he was accused of harassment, stalking, and police brutality by local activist and television show host Clay Tiffany. After Tartaglione retired from policing, he became involved in steroid and cocaine trafficking. On April 11, 2016, Tartaglione and two co-conspirators kidnapped and murdered four men in Orange County. The intended victim, 41-year-old Martin Luna, was murdered due to a drug-trafficking-related money dispute between him and Tartaglione. The other three victims, 25-year-old Miguel Luna, 35-year-old Urbano Santiago, and 43-year-old Hector Gutierrez, were killed solely for being with Luna at the time of the ambush. Tartaglione was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on June 10, 2024. While awaiting trial, Tartaglione was the cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein at Metropolitan Correctional Center. On July 23, 2019, 18 days before his death, Epstein was found in their cell with injuries to his neck. Epstein initially told guards that Tartaglione had caused the injuries, but later recanted this statement. An internal prison report found that Tartaglione had no connection to the event and declared the incident an attempted suicide. However, Tartaglione has remained a subject of conspiracy theories relating to Epstein's death.