The names of more than 150 people linked to Jeffrey Epstein could be revealed after a New York judge ordered a new batch of documents in a lawsuit against his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell unsealed.

Judge Loretta A. Preska ordered the documents to be unsealed on Jan. 1, giving those mentioned more than a week to appeal their case.

In the 2015 lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre accused Maxwell, Epstein's long-time paramour, of facilitating years of sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein that began when Giuffre was 16.

After the suit was settled two years later for an undisclosed amount, the court granted a motion filed by the Miami Herald to unseal documents from the case. The release on Jan. 1 will come after Judge Preska reviewed the files for years to determine which could be released to the public.

In many instances, the judge noted individuals that had given interviews to the media. Some documents will remain sealed because they name minor victims of abuse who have not publicly been identified.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year for her role in Epstein's routine sexual abuse of multiple underage girls over a 10-year period.

According to the testimonies of four women, only one of whom was identified, Maxwell plied them with gifts and promises that Epstein would use his wealth to help them advance their careers or interests. The women, who were minors when Maxwell first recruited them, said they were asked to give Epstein massages that became sexual abuse.

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and two conspiracy charges after her 2020 arrest in New Hampshire.

Giuffre also claimed Epstein and Maxwell coerced her into sexual relations with their friends and associates, including Prince Andrew, who paid an undisclosed amount to settle a separate lawsuit filed by Giuffre against him in 2022.

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Jeffrey Epstein found dead after judge orders documents unsealed

Epstein killed himself in his prison cell in 2019 a month after he pleaded not guilty to an indictment on charges of sex-trafficking and abusing dozens of minors between 2002 and 2005. His death came within 24 hours after the court granted the Miami Herald's motion to unseal the documents in Giuffre's lawsuit against Maxwell.

According to the indictment against him, Epstein paid his victims to recruit other young girls into a cycle of abuse carried out at his homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and other locations.

A Justice Department report released earlier this year found that the Federal Bureau of Prisons failed to "adequately safeguard" Epstein, in part leading to the bevvy of questions and conspiracy theories that swirled around his death. Although Epstein was found lying on the floor of the cell with a piece of cloth tied around his neck in an apparent suicide attempt three weeks before he died, he was taken off suicide watch and left without a cellmate when he died.

In 2007, Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in custody in Florida after he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, but a non-prosecution agreement allowed him to spend most of it at his office in Palm Beach.

Contributing: Associated Press

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her on email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.

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