Billionaire Stephen Deckoff accused of kidnapping near Little St. James Island
Billionaire Stephen Deckoff is named in a federal civil lawsuit alleging he personally helped abduct a jet-skier near his island. His company has also sued 30 influencers for trespassing on the former Epstein property.
Billionaire Deckoff accused of kidnapping near former Epstein island, 30 influencers sued
A federal civil lawsuit filed Friday names Stephen Deckoff, billionaire owner of Little St. James Island, in allegations that he personally participated in the abduction of a social media content creator near the property, stthomassource.com reports.
Deckoff purchased both St. James islands in 2023 through his company LSJVI, LLC for $60 million — four years after the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who previously owned the property. Despite having no connection to Epstein, Deckoff and his island have faced a steady stream of social media creators seeking notoriety by association with the former owner's infamy.
Jet-ski chase, stripping, and hog-tying
The amended lawsuit, filed October 30, claims Deckoff and his wife, Jane Rollins, personally chased down Iberian video producer Eloi Gil Sancho while he was jet skiing near the island. According to the filing, Deckoff and Rollins forced Sancho aboard their boat, made him strip naked, and bound his hands and feet with marine rope.
A longtime Little St. James property manager, Ann Rodriquez, faces separate criminal charges for allegedly carrying out near-identical actions against Eloi's brother, Marcel Gil Sancho. Rodriquez allegedly sped toward the brothers in March while brandishing what appeared to be a handgun, shouting "I will kill you." The weapon later turned out to be a pellet gun modified to resemble a Glock. Marcel was reportedly forced to swim to her boat, stripped naked, and hog-tied.
The alleged captain of Rodriquez's boat, St. John resident Jeremy Fowler, described stripping and hogtying perceived trespassers as "the protocol," according to the lawsuit. Court records state that Marcel was taken to Little St. James to await Deckoff, "who Fowler said would decide what happened to him."
The lawsuit further states: "That incident… put Defendants LSJVI, LLC and Deckoff on unmistakable notice of Rodriquez's violent propensities, and of their own practice. They did nothing. They kept her in place as the de facto enforcer of the island."
Third alleged victim placed in 'the dungeon'
Less than two months after the Gil Sancho incidents, Tennessee resident Benjamin Jackson Owen — who runs the anti-sex-trafficking nonprofit We Fight Monsters — was discovered on the island without permission. Island staff allegedly partially stripped, tied, gagged, and duct-taped Owen before confining him in a sweltering concrete room referred to as "the dungeon," according to court records.
When police arrived, Virgin Islands Police Department desk employee Paul J. Arnold III allegedly punched Owen in the face while he remained tied up. Arnold avoided an assault trial by completing anger management training. His pregnant girlfriend, Emery Poleon, is also named in the suit after Owen was said to have knocked her over.
The lawsuit filed by Owen and the Gil Sancho brothers against Deckoff, Rollins, Rodriquez, Fowler, Poleon, Arnold, and LSJVI, LLC states the defendants "treated Little Saint James as if it were beyond the reach of law, and treated Mr. Owen as if his life and bodily integrity were theirs to dispose of. They were wrong."
The suit, which cites 16 separate claims including false imprisonment and assault, requests a jury trial and maximum damages. Deckoff and Rollins have not been criminally charged. The suit also referenced Deckoff's alleged statements to investigators about his close ties to Government House and other influential Virgin Islanders.
Island company hits back with trespassing suits against 30 influencers
LSJVI has simultaneously filed civil trespassing suits in both Virgin Islands Superior Court and Virgin Islands District Court against Owen, the Gil Sanchos, and at least 27 other social media creators. The company alleges the influencers profited from trespassing, collectively generating tens of millions of clicks and views.
"Defendants are social media influencers who record themselves conducting various acts and then post those exploits online seeking 'followers' and 'likes,'" the suits state. "Far from being ashamed of their criminal activity, Defendants have sought attention for their illegal conduct."
The suits demand all photos, videos, and other content produced during the alleged trespassing, as well as all revenue generated from those posts.
One of LSJVI's suits names Georgia resident Brittain Lockhart, Kentucky resident Gabrielle B. Wagner, and Texas residents Andrew Ryan Petersen and Zachary Huwaidi Ibdah — also known online as Zac Espeja, who publishes content on YouTube and X under the handle ZacSeg. Several of ZacSeg's videos appear to show young men and a woman navigating rough seas to reach the island, entering buildings, and spending the night in a cottage.
ZacSeg responded to the lawsuit in a two-minute video titled "Our Epstein Island Investigation Backfired…" — filmed while climbing what appeared to be a remote electrical tower — in which he claimed to have visited the Virgin Islands as a journalist investigating a "cover-up."
Source: Google News VI — Crime