Seven Demands, Zero Victims: Inside an Ohio Law Firm's Campaign to Scrub Epstein Associates From the Public Record

On February 26, 2026, an email arrived from Kyle D. Stroup, a partner at Kohrman Jackson & Krantz in Cleveland, Ohio. The subject line was familiar by then. It was the seventh time the firm had contacted Epstein Exposed demanding the removal of public DOJ records.

The client this time was Julia Stepanova, a Russian woman who, according to the files themselves, provided "logistics, business and administrative support services" to Southern Trust Company, Inc., one of Jeffrey Epstein's U.S. Virgin Islands entities. She received wire transfers from Epstein's Deutsche Bank account. She traveled with Karyna Shuliak, Epstein's girlfriend. Her business visa to Japan was arranged through Southern Trust.

Like the six before her, Stroup's letter claimed his client was a victim. Like the six before her, the claim was unsupported by any court record, victim compensation filing, or law enforcement designation. And like the six before her, the demand was denied.

The Firm

KJK is not a random law firm that stumbled into Epstein work. It is a mid-market Cleveland practice of 50 attorneys that has built a nationally recognized specialty in exactly this type of engagement. Their website advertises two dedicated practice groups relevant here:

Their Internet Defamation & Content Removal practice, led by partner Alexandra Arko, explicitly offers to remove content from "news platforms," "forums," "directory sites," and "shaming sites." Their methods include negotiating with web administrators, securing court orders, and search engine de-indexing.

Their Reputation Management practice goes further. Per their own marketing, KJK works with people "accused of sexual harassment, various forms of sexual misconduct, rape" and combines "criminal, education and employment lawyers, as well as in-house communications professionals." When content cannot be removed, they focus on "regaining control of the public narrative through public relations."

This is not a firm offering legal advice to victims. This is a firm offering reputation rehabilitation to people accused of exactly what Epstein's associates are accused of.

The Seven Clients

Over a period of weeks in February and March 2026, KJK sent seven separate demands on behalf of seven individuals connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Two attorneys were involved: Kyle D. Stroup, a partner promoted in January 2025, handled six of the demands. Mackenzie R. Matulich, a litigation associate, handled the seventh using a different method after Stroup's approach failed.

Every demand followed the same template: claim victim status, provide zero documentation, demand compliance within 24 hours, reserve "all legal and equitable rights."

Every client turned out to be documented in the Epstein files as an associate, co-conspirator, employee, or recruiter. Not a single one appears on any victim list, in any victim compensation program, or in any victim advocacy context.

Here is what the documents actually show about each of them.

Sarah Kellen. Named as a "potential co-conspirator" in the 2007 Non-Prosecution Agreement. Federal Judge Loretta Preska described her as a "knowing participant in the criminal conspiracy." Appears in 397 OCR documents. Logged 672 flights on Epstein's aircraft. Co-occurs in documents with Ghislaine Maxwell (17 shared docs), Jean-Luc Brunel (12 shared docs), and Darren Indyke (18 shared docs). Changed her name to Sarah Kellen Vickers after marrying NASCAR driver Brian Vickers. They divorced in 2025.

Nadia Marcinkova. Named as a "potential co-conspirator" in the same NPA. Palm Beach police reports describe her participation in sex acts with minors. Received a $100,000 wire transfer via Bear Stearns from Epstein's JPMorgan account on September 25, 2007 (EFTA01482870). Logged 267 flights on Epstein's aircraft. Changed her name to Nadia Marcinko and founded an aviation company under the moniker "Global Girl." Reportedly missing since January 2024.

Adriana Ross. Born Adriana Mucinska. Named as a "potential co-conspirator" in the NPA. Invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a deposition. Appears on flight logs with Bill Clinton. Congress demanded her testimony. 133 document links.

Jackie Kalin. An employee of NES LLC, the entity that ran expenses for Epstein's New York City home. This employment relationship is confirmed in a Deutsche Bank AML compliance document (EFTA01456930). Logged 18 flights. 41 document links. Not identified as a victim in any proceeding. KJK claimed victim status anyway.

Johanna Thuringer. A Swedish model (former Miss Teen World contestant, Miss Universe Sweden 2011 finalist). Appears in 210 OCR documents. Received multiple wire transfers from Epstein's Deutsche Bank account, including $2,792 on June 19, 2017 and $3,589 for Fashion Institute of Technology tuition. Epstein personally instructed staff to "give johanna 2500 dollars" (EFTA02651885). Her name appears in Epstein's personal schedule for evening appointments: "6:30/7:00pm Appt w/Johanna Thuringer" (April 9, 2018). Co-occurs with Lesley Groff in 48 documents and Darren Indyke in 21 documents. KJK sent an NDA along with the demand letter, seeking to permanently silence any discussion of the removal attempt itself.

Polina Sikorska. A Ukrainian model (Silent Models NY, appeared on CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful as "Polina Boyd"). 132 document links. The files contain what may be the most damning evidence of any KJK client. In an email exchange (EFTA01952574 and EFTA01952701), Epstein writes to Sikorska: "find any friends for me." Sikorska replies: "Ahahaha.. I'm working on that :) but you know I'm picky and selective!!! If I'll find someone she will be as good, smart and beautiful as Svetlana.. For less I won't bother you :) lol." That is documented recruitment activity for Jeffrey Epstein's network. KJK's demand, filed by Matulich through the site's redaction request form on March 4, 2026, listed 26 specific document IDs for removal.

Julia Stepanova. Also known as Yulia Stepanova, Julia Cuomo, Julia S. Cuomo. A Russian woman described in EFTA01205864 as providing "logistics, business and administrative support services" to Southern Trust Company, Inc. Received wire transfers of $4,815, $5,000, and $1,120 from Epstein's Deutsche Bank account. Traveled with Karyna Shuliak on a joint itinerary (EFTA02725006). Co-occurs with Lesley Groff in 51 documents and Darren Indyke in 13 documents. Had her business visa to Japan arranged through Southern Trust.

The Financial Link

One detail connects the picture. Johanna Thuringer and Julia Stepanova, the fifth and seventh KJK clients, both appear on the same Deutsche Bank account statement: account number 35269691 at Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, belonging to Jeffrey E. Epstein (EFTA01297010). Both women received wire transfers from Epstein's personal funds in 2017.

This means at least two of KJK's seven clients are linked not just by their shared attorney, but by the same bank account that funded them.

The Cross-Client Network

The seven clients are not isolated individuals who independently found the same Cleveland law firm. They are deeply interconnected within the Epstein operation.

Sarah Kellen and Nadia Marcinkova share 184 documents. Kellen and Adriana Ross share 96. Marcinkova and Ross share 75. Twenty documents in the DOJ corpus contain three or more KJK clients simultaneously.

All seven co-occur extensively with Epstein's operational inner circle. Lesley Groff, Epstein's chief assistant, arranged travel and wire transfers for at least six of the seven. Darren Indyke, his estate attorney, processed payments for at least four.

The Unanswered Question

At partner rates of $400 to $800 per hour at a Chambers-ranked firm, seven demand letters with supporting research represent a significant legal expenditure, potentially $50,000 or more. The clients are models, employees, and associates, not the kind of individuals who typically retain elite business litigation firms for internet content removal.

Someone is paying for this. The documents do not reveal who. But the pattern is clear: a single law firm, two attorneys, seven clients, one template, zero victims, and a shared goal of erasing public records that the Department of Justice released under federal law.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act made these documents public for a reason. A Cleveland law firm's campaign to put them back in the dark does not change what they contain.

All documents referenced in this article are from the U.S. Department of Justice Epstein file releases and are accessible through the Epstein Exposed document database. KJK's demands and the site's responses are documented in the project's legal records.