New Mexico is trying to seize parts of Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch after the state commissioner was not allowed to visit the land.
Zorro Ranch, a nearly 10,0000 acre property about 40 miles south of Sante Fe, was one of several estates owned by Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell earlier this month. The property consists of private and state-owned land that was leased under a 1993 purchase agreement.
Stephanie Garcia Richard, the state’s commissioner of public lands, told the Wall Street Journal she and her colleagues tried to gain access to the ranch on Tuesday but were denied.
“It is heart-wrenching to know that state trust land was part of a broader scheme to cause harm to individuals,” Garcia said. “So we want to do everything we can to make sure that our office is ready and available and helpful in bringing these folks to justice.”
Garcia said the denial could be grounds to terminate the lease.
“I’m going to be visiting with legal to see if that gives me cause to cancel the lease,” she said. “These field inspections, field reports are fairly routine.”
She said her office notified Zorro Ranch that it would be visiting, though it’s common for the commissioner to visit state-owned land without informing a property owner beforehand.
Federal law enforcement officials have raided other properties owned by Epstein, including his Manhattan townhouse and an estate in the Virgin Islands.
More than a dozen women spoke in court Tuesday that they had been sexually abused by Epstein and his associates.
