A Florida woman who was paid $750,000 by a fund for people sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein has pleaded guilty to falsifying records she used in her application for the money.
Jennifer Percival, a scholar who has written books on autism, entered the plea in federal court in New York on Monday, the same day that she was charged in the case.
Federal sentencing guidelines call for her to spend from three to four years behind bars, according to the plea deal she signed with prosecutors, though a judge does not have to follow that recommendation. She was released from custody after the hearing while she awaits sentencing. Jennifer Percival, a scholar who has written books on autism, entered the plea in federal court in New York on Monday, the same day that she was charged in the case.
A transcript of the proceeding was entered in the court record Wednesday. During her brief court appearance, Percival didn’t speak about Epstein and prosecutors didn’t say whether they had reached a conclusion about whether she was, or wasn’t, one of his victims. That fund, however, decided she was ineligible for a payment. Court records didn’t say why she was turned down. A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.
Percival, 46, said she applied in late 2020 to a fund set up by Epstein’s estate to compensate his victims after he killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. She brought a check to the plea hearing for the $776,031 she owes in restitution.
“The purpose of these actions was to obtain money, which gave me a sense of validation,” she told a magistrate judge, according to the transcript of Monday’s court hearing. Neither court records nor anything said in open court make it explicitly clear why Percival claimed to have been entitled to Epstein settlement money.
