Steve Terrell

The Santa Fe New Mexican

A woman who says convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein kept her as a teenage sex slave claims in a sworn deposition that a woman who served as the New York financier's procurer directed her to have sex with Bill Richardson while he was governor of New Mexico.

Epstein died early Saturday from an apparent suicide.

A spokeswoman for Richardson, who has not been charged with any crime, denied Friday that he has ever met Virginia Giuffre, who says in her deposition that she was ordered to provide erotic massages and sex to several powerful men associated with Epstein.

Richardson's name showed up in a 2016 deposition ordered released Friday by a federal judge as part of a 2,000-page cache of documents in a defamation lawsuit Giuffre filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, a former Epstein girlfriend who has been described as the billionaire's "madam."

"In several depositions — excerpts of which were included in the documents unsealed Friday — Giuffre said that Maxwell would send her to have erotic 'massages' and sexual encounters with various powerful men," including Richardson, the Daily Beast reported Friday.

Epstein had been facing federal charges in New York of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex in that state and Florida. The New York Times, which said Epstein hanged himself, quoted officials as saying his body was found at 7:30 a.m. Saturday in his Manhattan cell.

Related:Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been donating to NM politicians since 1990

Dozens of accusers say they were underage, some as young as 14, when Epstein allegedly sexually abused them.

The Daily Beast quoted part of the deposition in which Giuffre said, "They instructed me to go to (former U.S. Sen.) George Mitchell, (modeling agent) Jean-Luc Brunel, Bill Richardson, another prince that I don't know his name. A guy that owns a hotel, a really large hotel chain, I can't remember which hotel it was."

Mitchell and Brunel also have denied Giuffre's allegations, the Miami Herald reported Friday.

Giuffre has claimed she was forced to have encounters with men including Britain's Prince Andrew, Epstein's lawyer Alan Dershowitz, the late MIT scientist Marvin Minsky and others. The prince and Dershowitz — who has sued Giuffre for defamation — have denied the allegations.

The Daily Beast noted that "court documents unsealed on Friday did not contain any corroboration or further details, though many documents remain sealed."

Defamation suits Giuffre filed against Maxwell and Epstein were settled in 2017.

Richardson spokeswoman Madeleine Mahony said in a statement Friday, "These allegations and inferences are completely false. Gov. Richardson has never even been contacted by any party regarding this lawsuit. To be clear, in Gov. Richardson's limited interactions with Mr. Epstein, he never saw him in the presence of young or underage girls. Gov. Richardson has never been to Mr. Epstein's residence in the Virgin Islands. Gov. Richardson has never met Ms. Giuffre."

Current Attorney General Hector Balderas said last month his office is looking into possible criminal activity by Epstein in New Mexico and will turn over any evidence to federal prosecutors.

Epstein owns the secluded, 10,000-acre Zorro Ranch in southern Santa Fe County, which he purchased from former Gov. Bruce King in the early 1990s. On that property is a 26,700-square-foot hilltop mansion as well as a small airplane hangar and airstrip.

Epstein also owns properties in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Epstein was generous to Richardson in his two successful gubernatorial campaigns, contributing $50,000 in 2002 and 2006.

Richardson was one of several New Mexico politicians whose campaigns got money from Epstein. Others include former Attorney General Gary King — Bruce King's son — in 2006 and 2014, former state Land Commissioner Jim Baca, who was seeking another term in 2006, and former Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano in 2006.

Richardson during the 2006 campaign donated Epstein's contribution to charity after the Palm Beach, Fla., police chief went public with accusations that Epstein was recruiting girls for sex. In a controversial plea bargain that many have called a sweetheart deal, Epstein eventually pleaded guilty to soliciting sex.

Richardson's name appears in Epstein's infamous "little black book," which was stolen from the billionaire by one of his butlers and became evidence in a court case against the butler. Others whose names and phone numbers appear in the book are the late former Gov. King, the real estate company of former state Rep. Rhonda King, Bruce King's niece, which sold the Zorro Ranch property; John Kelly, who is listed as "attorney general" but served as U.S. attorney for New Mexico through most of the 1990s, and the Santa Fe Institute.

The "black book" also contains phone numbers for several women or girls, listed only by first names under the heading "Massage — New Mexico."

Last month the New York Times reported Epstein had confided to scientists and others about a scheme to "seed the human race with his DNA" by impregnating women at the Zorro ranch.