Alfredo Rodriguez served as a butler at Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach estate and became an unlikely central figure in the case when he removed Epstein's personal address book — the document that became known as "The Black Book" — from the property around 2005.

The black book contained approximately 1,500 names with phone numbers, fax numbers, and addresses. Rodriguez had circled certain entries that he believed indicated victims or individuals with knowledge of Epstein's activities. The circled names became a subject of intense public and media interest when the document was eventually released.

Rodriguez attempted to sell the book to attorneys representing Epstein's victims for $50,000. He was caught, prosecuted for obstruction of justice, and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison — a sentence that exceeded what Epstein himself ultimately served under the 2008 NPA, an irony not lost on victims' advocates.

Rodriguez's motivations have been debated. Prosecutors characterized his actions as an attempt to profit from stolen property. Others, including some victims' attorneys, argued that Rodriguez was trying to get evidence to people who would act on it, after watching law enforcement fail to do so. Regardless of his motivations, the black book became one of the most important and widely referenced documents in the entire Epstein case.

Rodriguez died in December 2015. By the time the case received renewed attention in 2018-2019, he was no longer alive to testify about what he witnessed at the Palm Beach estate or to explain the significance of the names he had circled.

Court Documents / FBI Records / Black Book