Epstein cellmate took 17 secret calls with illicit phone before child sex abuser's arrival

The inmate who Jeffrey Epstein claimed had attempted to kill him in their cell was busted with a cell phone a few days before the sex offender arrived at the New York City detention center.

A Bureau of Prisons memo released as part of the massive trove of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice details an incident four days before Epstein's arrival in which the former police officer was accused of having a cell phone at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

"On July 2, 2019, inmate Tartaglione, Nicholas; Reg.