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---
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
- LaCosaNostra
- LosAngeles
- Racketeering
- Gambling
- IndianGaming
aliases:
- Peter Milano
- Peter John Milano
- Peter J. Milano
created: 2026-10-09
updated: 2026-10-09
location: "Los Angeles, California"
summary: "Boss of the Los Angeles crime family by 1986, convicted in a 1970s federal gambling case and a defendant in the 1987 federal racketeering case in Los Angeles in which he reportedly pleaded guilty."
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Los Angeles Crime Family]]"
start: 1986
role: "boss, identified as such in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
fn: 3
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Carmen Milano]]"
role: "brother; underboss of the family in 1986"
start: 1986
fn: 3
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
reverse: true
role: "federal gambling conspiracy case; convicted on two counts, four-year concurrent sentence (United States v. Calaway)"
end: 1975
fn: 2
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
reverse: true
role: "federal racketeering and loansharking indictment returned May 21, 1987; detained pending trial; reported guilty plea in 1988"
start: 1987
end: 1988
fn: 6
---
Peter John Milano was identified as the boss of the [[Los Angeles Crime Family]], a [[La Cosa Nostra]] group, in 1986, and was a defendant in federal cases in 1975 and 1987. [[David Amoruso]] wrote in 2012 that Milano died on April 21 at age 86.[^1]
### Gambling conviction, 1970s
The earliest federal case located against Milano is a gambling conspiracy in the [[San Fernando Valley]] area of Los Angeles. The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] heard consolidated appeals in 1975 from five defendants, [[Martin C. Calaway]], [[Luigi Gelfuso]], [[Tony Endreola]], Milano and [[John Joseph Vaccaro]], who had been convicted under a three-count indictment charging conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. 1955, operation of an illegal gambling business, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Vaccaro was convicted on all three counts. Milano, Gelfuso, Calaway and Endreola were convicted on the first two. Milano, Gelfuso and Calaway received concurrent four-year sentences under each count, and Endreola received a suspended two-year sentence and probation.[^2]
The court's account of the evidence says that Gelfuso and Vaccaro had agreed that Gelfuso and Milano would each receive 20 percent of the profits and Vaccaro 60 percent. The evidence suggested that Milano arranged free bail bonds for the operation's arrested employees. The court found that the evidence showed Milano knew of the conspiracy almost from its inception. After [[Coloduros]] told him in an alley near the bail bond office that Deems was cheating at the blackjack table, Milano replied, "I'll look into it." At the bail bond office, referring to a newspaper item, Milano stated that the conspirators had not told him "in the front" that they were using crooked dice. The court described the bail-bond evidence as "highly suspicious" and noted Milano's contention that he was engaged in the legitimate pursuit of his profession, and held the remaining evidence sufficient to support the finding of his participation. The court affirmed the judgments of conviction.[^2]
### Boss of the family, 1986
The [[California Attorney General's Office]] annual report to the legislature, issued in June 1987 covering 1986, described the Southern California Crime Family as "the only functioning traditional organized crime family based in this state." The report lists Peter John Milano as boss, his brother [[Carmen Milano]] as underboss and [[Jack LoCicero]] as consigliere. It names Luigi Gelfuso, [[Vincent Dominic Caci]], [[John Aquilante]] and [[Michael Rizzitello]] as caporegimes, and states that the family consisted of about 20 members. The report says the structure "remained unchanged in 1986."[^3]
The report attributes the family's weakness "largely to police scrutiny and ineffective family leadership."[^3] It states that, in addition to the Southern California family, members and associates of the [[Gambino Crime Family]], the [[Lucchese Crime Family]] and the [[DeCavalcante crime family]] were involved in California businesses including pornography, high-stakes bingo on Indian reservations and vending machines.[^3]
### Piggy's Vending and the Cabazon cardroom
In its discussion of vending machines, the report describes an investigation of [[Piggy's Vending]] in [[Riverside County]]. It states that Keely Smith, also known as Dorothy Prima, the business's owner, had a boyfriend, [[Bobby Milano]], publicly identified as a member of the Southern California Crime Family, and that Bobby Milano's brother, Vincent Dominic Caci, is a caporegime of the family. The report adds in parentheses that Bobby Milano was often seen at the business. It states that [[Steven Cino]], the manager of Piggy's, and [[Rocco Zangari]], who was observed unloading cartons of cigarettes at the business, also have been identified as members of the family.[^4]
On February 9, 1989 the [[Press-Enterprise]] of Riverside reported that Rocco Zangari, the manager of the cardroom of the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] until 1981, had been sentenced the previous year to five years' probation and a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles. The article states that he was identified in the indictment in that case as an associate of Peter Milano, whom federal prosecutors identified as the leader of mob activities in Southern California until his conviction for racketeering.[^5]
### The 1987 indictment and the Gelfuso appeal
[[Michael Gelfuso]], Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso were indicted on May 21, 1987 in a multi-count indictment charging them with racketeering and loansharking violations, conspiracy and attempt to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine. They were ordered detained under the Bail Reform Act of 1984. The district court found that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community, and found Michael and Luigi Gelfuso to be flight risks. The defendants did not appeal the denial of their motions to revoke the orders and instead moved the district court three months later for reconsideration, arguing that the length of their detention violated due process. They contended that the government's failure to deliver over 600 hours of taped conversations required them to move for a trial continuance; the district court found the government was not responsible for the delay and denied the motions. The Ninth Circuit affirmed on February 1, 1988 without deciding at what point detention becomes excessive, and noted that the defendants had been detained since June 1987 and that trial was then scheduled for March 1, 1988.[^6]
[[United Press International]] reported on April 5, 1988 that the racketeering trial of Luigi Gelfuso Jr. and co-defendants [[John DeMattia]] and John Vaccaro had opened in Los Angeles federal court. The report stated that eleven other men, including Peter John Milano, described as the reputed boss of the Los Angeles Mafia, had already pleaded guilty, and that the case rested on an 18-count indictment returned the previous May.[^7]
### Family
Carmen Milano is identified in the 1986 report as underboss. In a 1998 federal indictment, the [[Las Vegas Sun]] described Carmen Milano as the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob and as the brother of Peter Milano.[^8]
A [[Cleveland, Ohio]] underboss named [[Anthony Milano]] appears in the appendix to the [[President's Commission on Organized Crime]]'s 1986 report on organized crime, business and labor unions, in questions put to a Cleveland witness, who gave the same answer to each. One question described Anthony Milano as the consigliere and underboss of the Cleveland family; the next asked whether the witness was aware that a Carmen Milano, "a relation of Mr. Anthony Milano," was attorney for a joint council. The records found do not establish whether Anthony Milano is related to Peter Milano, or whether the Carmen Milano of the question is the Los Angeles underboss.[^9]
### 1998 Las Vegas indictment
A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in [[Las Vegas]] on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, including Carmen Milano, whom the Las Vegas Sun described as the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob, the suspected capos Vincent "Jimmy" Caci, 73, and [[Louis Caruso]], 40, and the made members [[Stephen Cino]], 60, [[Charles Caci]], 62, and Rocco Zangari, 65. The newspaper described the indictment as superseding a smaller April 17 indictment and as a 50-count case. The records found do not establish whether the Vincent "Jimmy" Caci of 1998 is the Vincent Dominic Caci named as a caporegime in 1986. It described the investigation as part of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s nationwide [[Operation Button-down]] initiative, which used court-approved electronic surveillance, informants and several undercover agents who had penetrated the Los Angeles mob.[^8]
The article states that Peter Milano "was not charged in the two-year probe, which authorities said is continuing." It states that Carmen Milano, who owns a condominium in Las Vegas, surrendered to the FBI that morning. The Sun reported on February 4, 1998 that Carmen Milano told the paper after a hearing, "I'm being framed" and "This is a government conspiracy," and that he was released on a $25,000 bond carried over from a federal money laundering charge against him in Los Angeles.[^10] According to the article, the indictment accused Carmen Milano of trying to share in the profits of the illicit activities after the killing of [[Herbie Blitzstein]], and charged him, with [[Peter Caruso]], with extortion and threats against an undercover agent. The article says the plan to kill Blitzstein was hatched in October, before the January 6, 1997 killing, at a meeting in Las Vegas with Milano, Cino and [[John Branco]], a longtime hoodlum who had become a government informant.[^8]
The Ninth Circuit's appellate opinion in the Blitzstein case recorded that [[Robert Panaro]] and Stephen Cino, along with fourteen co-defendants, were charged in a fifty-count indictment with racketeering-related crimes including murder, conspiracy to commit extortion, money laundering, counterfeiting, wire fraud and mail fraud. The opinion describes count 33, which charged Cino with money laundering by aiding and abetting Vincent Caci's acceptance, in California, of a $2,000 tribute payment from Nevada.[^11]
In March 2000 the Las Vegas Sun reported that Carmen Milano and Dominic Spinale had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, and that Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996. The article describes Carmen Milano as the Los Angeles La Cosa Nostra family underboss.[^12]
### Death
Amoruso, writing for [[Gangsters Inc.]] on August 4, 2012, wrote that Peter John Milano died on April 21 at age 86 and that the death went unnoticed by the media and the public. Amoruso also wrote that Milano became head of the Los Angeles crime family in 1980 after his predecessors were sent to prison on racketeering charges, that he and his crew pleaded guilty in 1988 to racketeering and extortion charges, and that he was released from prison on April 5, 1991.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: David Amoruso, "Three dead mobsters three different stories," *Gangsters Inc.*, August 4, 2012. https://gangstersinc.org/2012/08/04/three-dead-mobsters-three-different-stories/
[^2]: *United States v. Calaway*, 524 F.2d 609 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 1975), consolidated appeals of Martin C. Calaway, Luigi Gelfuso, Tony Endreola, Peter John Milano and John Joseph Vaccaro. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8910026/united-states-v-calaway/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/524/cases/0609-01.json
[^3]: California Department of Justice, Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987; Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp), pp. 2-3, "Southern California Crime Family" and "Leadership of the Southern California Crime Family," and pp. 6-7, "Traditional Organized Crime Involvement in Businesses." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
[^4]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 19-20, "Piggy's Vending." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied," reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^6]: *United States v. Michael Gelfuso, Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso*, 838 F.2d 358 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/500776/united-states-v-michael-gelfuso-peter-john-milano-and-luigi-gelfuso/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/838/cases/0358-01.json
[^7]: United Press International, "Trial begins for reputed members of 'Mickey Mouse Mafia,'" April 5, 1988. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/05/Trial-begins-for-reputed-members-of-Mickey-Mouse-Mafia/4166576216000/
[^8]: Jeff German, "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
[^9]: President's Commission on Organized Crime, *The Edge: Organized Crime, Business, and Labor Unions* (1986), appendix hearing transcript (Cleveland witness). https://ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/102922NCJRS.pdf
[^10]: Jeff German, "Reputed underboss Milano: 'I'm being framed,'" *Las Vegas Sun*, February 4, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/04/reputed-underboss-milano-im-being-framed/
[^11]: *United States v. Panaro*, 241 F.3d 1104 (9th Cir. Feb. 28, 2001), appeal of Robert Panaro and Stephen Cino. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/772293/united-states-v-robert-panaro-united-states-of-america-v-stephen-cino/ and https://static.case.law/f3d/241/cases/1104-01.json
[^12]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/

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---
aliases:
- Stephen Kosslyn
- Stephen M. Kosslyn
- Stephen Michael Kosslyn
- S. M. Kosslyn
- Stephan Kosslyn
- Steve Kosslyn
category: "Scientists & Researchers"
tags:
- Scientist
- Psychologist
- CognitiveNeuroscience
- MentalImagery
- Harvard
- Stanford
- Minerva
- JeffreyEpstein
- ONR
- AFOSR
- DARPA
- NSF
- NIH
summary: "Cognitive neuroscientist who chaired Harvard's psychology department, directed Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences from 2011 to 2013, and was named founding dean of the Minerva Project in 2013."
created: 2026-10-09
updated: 2026-10-09
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Harvard University]]"
role: "faculty member, chair of the Department of Psychology from 2005, divisional dean for the social sciences from July 1, 2008"
start: 1977
end: 2010
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Stanford University]]"
role: "director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences"
start: 2011
end: 2013
fn: 7
- type: head_of
with: "[[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]]"
role: "director"
start: 2011-01-01
end: 2013
fn: 7
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Minerva Project]]"
role: "founding dean, Minerva School of Arts and Sciences"
start: 2013-03-12
fn: 1
- type: funded
with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
reverse: true
role: "two gifts totaling $200,000 to Harvard in support of Kosslyn's research"
start: 1998
end: 2002
fn: 26
- type: contractor_to
with: "[[Office of Naval Research]]"
role: "principal investigator on contracts N00014-79-C-0982, N00014-82-C-0166, N00014-83-K-0095, N00014-85-K-0291 and N00014-91-J-1243"
start: 1979
end: 1993
fn: 11
- type: contractor_to
with: "[[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]]"
role: "principal investigator on AFOSR grants 88-0012, AFOSR-89-0090, AFOSR-91-0100, F49620-98-1-0334 and F49620-99-1-0114"
start: 1988
end: 2001
fn: 15
- type: contractor_to
with: "[[DARPA]]"
role: "principal investigator on award FA8750-05-2-0270, program BICA"
start: 2005
end: 2007
fn: 22
- type: funded
with: "[[National Science Foundation]]"
reverse: true
role: "principal investigator on NSF awards 0411725 and 0322611, co-principal investigator on 0106760"
start: 2001
end: 2009
fn: 23
- type: funded
with: "[[National Institutes of Health]]"
reverse: true
role: "principal investigator on NIMH, NIA and NINDS grants including R01MH060734 and R01MH039478"
start: 1984
end: 2009
fn: 24
---
Stephen M. Kosslyn is an American psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist whose research on visual mental imagery was supported for more than three decades by the [[Office of Naval Research]], the [[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]], the [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]], the [[National Science Foundation]] and the [[National Institutes of Health]]. He chaired the [[Harvard University]] Department of Psychology, served as divisional dean for the social sciences there, directed the [[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] at [[Stanford University]] from 2011 to 2013, and was named founding dean of the [[Minerva Project]] in March 2013.
### Academic appointments
Kosslyn received his doctorate in psychology from Stanford. He was an assistant professor at [[Johns Hopkins University]] and an associate professor at Harvard and [[Brandeis University]], was appointed a full professor at Harvard in 1983, and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and held a Guggenheim Fellowship.[^1] He was at Johns Hopkins from 1976 to 1978 and at Brandeis from 1981 to 1983.[^2] He joined Harvard's faculty in 1977.[^3] His 1983 book is [[Ghosts in the Mind's Machine]], and his book [[Top Brain, Bottom Brain]], written with [[G. W. Miller]], develops a theory of "cognitive modes."[^1]
He was chair of Harvard's Psychology Department in 2005.[^4] On April 24, 2008 he was named divisional dean for the social sciences, effective July 1, 2008, while holding the title of John Lindsley Professor of Psychology and chair of the Department of Psychology.[^5] In July 2010 he was named director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, effective January 1, 2011, succeeding [[Iris Litt]].[^6] He served as director from 2011 to 2013 and launched the Center's annual summit.[^7] A Stanford spokesperson told the [[Stanford Daily]] in February 2026 that he had not held a position at Stanford since his appointment ended in 2013.[^8]
On March 12, 2013 the Minerva Project announced that Kosslyn had been appointed founding dean and would lead the academics and curriculum of the university, joining from Stanford.[^1] [[Ben Nelson]], identified in the release as founder and CEO, said there was "no one more qualified to lead the university's academic efforts." [[Larry Summers]], identified as chairman of the advisory board, said Kosslyn "has demonstrated again and again that great thinkers can be great doers." The release said the curriculum "is based in part on studies of human motivation, learning, and memory."[^1]
By September 2014 his email signature gave his position as dean of the Minerva School of Arts and Sciences at the [[Keck Graduate Institute]].[^9] A July 26, 2013 message from [[Roger Schank]] to [[Jeffrey Epstein]] reported that he "ran into kosslyn wed who is also involved now."[^10]
### Federal and military research funding
### Office of Naval Research contracts
Kosslyn's imagery work at Brandeis University was carried out under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-79-C-0982 (Code 458), as reported in a technical report filed with the [[Defense Technical Information Center]], dated January 24, 1983, titled "Components of Mental Imagery Representation." He is listed with [[Jennifer Brunn|J. L. Brunn]], [[Kyle Cave|K. R. Cave]] and [[Roger Wallach|R. W. Wallach]] as authors, and Brandeis University as the performing organization.[^11] Three technical reports dated August 20, 1984 report work carried out under Office of Naval Research contracts N00014-82-C-0166 and N00014-83-K-0095. They are "Toward a Computational Neuropsychology of High-Level Vision," "A Computational Analysis of Mental Image Generation: Evidence from Functional Dissociations in Split-Brain Patients," written with [[Michael Gazzaniga]], and "Dissociations between Imagery and Language Processing."[^12]
A technical report dated October 31, 1985, titled "Visual Hemispheric Specialization: A Computational Theory," lists contract N00014-85-K-0291. A report dated July 28, 1987, titled "Understanding Charts and Graphs," lists the same contract, program element 61153N, and the Personnel and Training Research Programs, Code 1142PT.[^13] Quarterly letters from Kosslyn to Dr. [[Terry Allard]] of the Office of Naval Research's cognitive science programs, dated August 8, 1991 and February 15, 1992, report on a project titled "PET Studies of Components of High-Level Vision" under contract N00014-91-J-1243. The August 1991 letter states: "we have strong evidence (p = .0001) that primary visual cortex is activated selectively during visual mental imagery."[^14]
### Air Force and AFOSR grants
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded the longest run of Kosslyn's imagery work, beginning with AFOSR grant 88-0012. A final technical report titled "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," with the header "AFOSR/ONR FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT," names Kosslyn as principal investigator for Harvard University and is dated January 25, 1991.[^15] An earlier report dated February 28, 1989 states that the work "was supported by ONR contract N00014-85-K-0291 and AFOSR grant 88-0012."[^16] An annual report for 1989 covers the same grant.[^17]
Two later AFOSR reports are titled "Neuropsychological Components of Object Identification." The annual report dated January 10, 1992 covers December 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991 and lists grant AFOSR-91-0100. The final report, dated January 29, 1993, covers December 1990 to November 1992 and prints "AFOSR 91-0100" as its funding number.[^18] An equipment grant, AFOSR-89-0090, covered December 1, 1988 to November 30, 1989 under the title "DURIP - Computational Modeling of Cognitive Processes." Its report, dated March 6, 1990, says the equipment purchased under the grant consisted of three VAXstations and two Macintosh II systems.[^19]
Grant F49620-98-1-0334 funded a battery of tasks on individual differences in visual cognition, with a reporting period running through November 30, 2000. Its final report states that the period of the grant was reduced before the planned work on real-world tasks could be done.[^20] A second equipment grant, F49620-99-1-0114, covered March 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000. Its final technical report, dated February 9, 2001, states that a frameless stereotactic device purchased with the funds could not be used because the vendor failed to supply the software needed to read the brain imaging data, and that the Harvard Office of the General Counsel negotiated a full refund, received in early February 2001.[^21]
### DARPA award
A final report dated February 2008, titled "High-Level Vision: Top-Down Processing in Neurally Inspired Architectures," states that it was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under DARPA Order No. V026/00. It covers September 2005 to August 2007 under award FA8750-05-2-0270, program element 61101E, project BICA, and is written by Kosslyn with [[Bruce Draper]], [[Giorgio Ganis]] and [[Mark Knobel]], with the [[Air Force Research Laboratory]] at Rome, New York as monitoring agency.[^22]
### National Science Foundation awards
Kosslyn was principal investigator on the following Harvard awards: "Cognitive Style: Individual Differences in Object and Spatial Imagery" ($1,263,430, September 1, 2004 to August 31, 2009); "fMRI and DOI Investigations of Deception" ($899,962, January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008, with Giorgio Ganis as co-principal investigator); and "The Structure of Mental Imagery Lateralization" ($255,000, August 15, 1990 to January 31, 1994). The abstract of the deception award states that its first goal is "to investigate the neural basis of deception." Earlier awards include four under the title "Visual Images As Memory Structures" between 1976 and 1985, at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Brandeis, and a 1977 National Needs Postdoctoral Fellowship. A further award, "ROLE: Cognitive Styles and Individual Differences in Imagery" ($2,943,614, September 1, 2001 to August 31, 2009) with [[J. Richard Hackman]] as principal investigator and Kosslyn as co-principal investigator, while the award abstract names Kosslyn as principal investigator.[^23]
### National Institutes of Health grants
Kosslyn was principal investigator on the following NIH awards. R01MH039478, "Visual Images as Memory Structures," was funded by the [[National Institute of Mental Health]] from 1984 to 1986. R01AG012675, "Imagery Processing in Old Age," was funded by the [[National Institute on Aging]] from 1995 to 1997. P01NS017778, "Lateralization of Imagery Processing," was funded by the [[National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke]] in fiscal years 1992 and 1993 under an organization listed as the [[University of California at Davis]]. P01NS027950, "Neuropsychological Components of High-Level Vision," was funded by the same institute in fiscal year 1996. 1F06TW002247, "Does Visual Imagery Activate Area 17? fMRI Studies," was funded by the [[Fogarty International Center]] in 1998. R01MH060734, "Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Imagery: fMRI and TMS Studies," ran from January 6, 2000 to July 31, 2009. T32MH070328, "Graduate Training in Psychology and Neuroimaging," ran from 2004 to 2009.[^24]
### Imagery research cited in an SRI remote viewing report
A December 1988 [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI International]] final report on forced-choice remote viewing (Objective E, Task 4, SRI Project 1291, covering October 1, 1987 to September 30, 1988), written by [[Edwin May|Edwin C. May]] and [[Virginia Trask|Virginia V. Trask]], is held in the CIA's [[Stargate Project]] document collection. Its general approach section states: "Progress has been made in understanding one area of subjective experience: internal mental imagery. Kosslyn describes successful techniques involving relative internal versus relative external imagery measures to begin to understand this robust mental process." The passage continues: "However, even those techniques cannot yet be applied to remote viewing research, because much of the subjective impressions are reported to precede imagery." The report footnotes Kosslyn's 1983 book, "Ghosts in the Mind's Machine: Creating and Using Images in the Brain" (W. W. Norton).[^25]
### Epstein and Harvard
Harvard's Office of the General Counsel found that Epstein gave Harvard two gifts, in 1998 and 2002, totaling $200,000, "to support Kosslyn's research." Its May 2020 report, [[Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University]], states that Epstein first provided support for Harvard faculty members in 1998, and that between 1998 and 2002 he had given $200,000 "to support Kosslyn's work."[^26]
The report found that Epstein applied on September 1, 2005 to be admitted as a Visiting Fellow, that his application stated he had learned of the status from Kosslyn, and that Kosslyn recommended him in a letter dated September 2, 2005. The letter reads "I have known Jeffrey for about nine years" and "He has been my only collaborator on this project (for some five years now, I believe)." Harvard admitted Epstein for the 2005 to 2006 academic year on September 3, 2005, with tuition and fees of $10,072, and approved a second year on April 21, 2006.[^26] The report says that Kosslyn acknowledged Epstein was not qualified to conduct aspects of his proposed research, particularly the MRI testing, and that in Kosslyn's recollection Epstein "was barely ever around."[^26] The report also states that the Visiting Fellow application form did not require Kosslyn to disclose Epstein's financial support when he endorsed him, and that because Kosslyn was a department chair, his recommendation "proved sufficient to carry the day."[^26] In a November 2008 email, Kosslyn, then divisional dean, noted that he had discussed "Martin [Nowak]'s situation" with [[Benedict Gross]], the chair of the mathematics department, according to the report.[^26]
### Palm Beach County Jail visits
In February 2026 the Stanford Daily reported on files released by the [[Department of Justice]] and said it had found 2,145 mentions of Kosslyn in them. The newspaper reported that the official visitor log of the [[Palm Beach County Jail]], which it reviewed, lists Kosslyn as a visitor to Epstein twice, on September 20 and 21, 2008, while Epstein was serving his sentence there, and that Kosslyn was then Dean of Social Science at Harvard.[^27]
A plaintiff's witness list in a civil suit against Epstein in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida]] (No. 08-CV-80893) carries as entry 102 "All people on inmate visitor log," followed by three names, the third of which is "Stephan Kosslyn."[^28]
The Daily reported that Kosslyn's name appears in the table of contents of a 2003 birthday book assembled for Epstein, with a handwritten message from Kosslyn that included a series of equations, and that his name appears in Epstein's 2004 to 2005 contact book.[^27]
### Correspondence with Epstein, 2009 to 2014
On July 22, 2009, the day the Daily gives as Epstein's release from the jail, Epstein emailed Kosslyn at 10:09 a.m. Eastern time with the message "home and free." Kosslyn replied at 12:05 p.m.: "HI Jeffrey!!!!! THIS IS FABULOUS! I'm currently in San Francisco, about to go to San Diego today. I'll give you a quick call at some point just to check in..." The message continued with the question "How does the 'Center for Enhanced Cognition' sound to you?" and a remark that he could "approach the elderly with a rap about how I'm going to help them keep their marbles rolling in the right direction." Epstein answered: "school of wisdom ? house of learning."[^29]
On May 4, 2010 Kosslyn wrote to Epstein: "You are the first to know: I was just offered it." The Daily reported that the message concerned the Stanford appointment.[^30]
A schedule email for Epstein dated April 27, 2011 lists a 6:30 p.m. dinner for eight on Sunday, May 1 with [[Woody Allen]] and "Prof. Steve Kosslyn," and a 12:00 lunch with "Prof. Kosslyn" on Tuesday, May 3.[^31] On May 5, 2012 Kosslyn forwarded to Epstein the save-the-date for the Center's 2012 summit with the message "I hope you can join us!"[^32] On August 5, 2012 he proposed a plan for a visit the next morning that consisted of a tour of his center at Stanford, lunch in the campus coffee house and a walk around the main campus, and a message from a member of Epstein's staff dated August 7, 2012 states that "we went with Kosslyn until about 2 and took him for lunch."[^33]
On February 22, 2013 Epstein's scheduler listed a 12:00 lunch that day with "Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator [[Bob Kerrey]]." That evening Kosslyn wrote to Epstein that he was "absolutely torn by the situation," that "the idea is good and the rest of the team is A+," and that "I can't stand my day job." Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^34] In September 2014, after Epstein wrote that Kerrey had said Kosslyn "had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned," Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea."[^9]
A scheduler's email of June 6, 2014 lists a reminder that "Prof. Kosslyn" was to stay in "apt 11B" from June 7 to June 16, and an appointment with him at 3:00 p.m. on June 8 in New York; a revised schedule of June 8 lists "3:30pm Appt w/Steve Kosslyn."[^35]
### Allegation and denial
A March 4, 2011 email from the journalist [[Annette Witheridge]], writing on behalf of the [[Mail on Sunday]], put a list of questions to [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] and appears in forwarded form in Epstein's email. Item 5 states that a woman "was required to have sex with friends of Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein, including Glenn Dubin, Les Wexner, Ehud Barak, former Senator George Mitchell and Stephen Kosslyn."[^36] Witheridge told the Stanford Daily that the allegations were made during an interview between the woman and the journalist [[Sharon Churcher]].[^37] A document in the Department of Justice files that the Daily described as notes from a journalist's off-the-record interview with [[Alan Dershowitz]] contains, at paragraph 47, a capitalized annotation, which the Daily attributed to Dershowitz, stating: "SHE ALSO SAID SHE HAD SEX WITH LESLEY WEXNER, EHUD BARAK, GEORGE MITCHELL, BILL RICHARDSON, MARVIN MINSKY, STEVE KOSSLYN AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE." At paragraph 14 the same document quotes a [[Harvard Crimson]] article in which Dershowitz said he debated mathematics, genetics, law and psychology with Epstein and Kosslyn, and the annotation reads "CORRECT."[^37]
The Daily reported that an unpublished manuscript by the woman, made public in 2019 after the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] ordered related court documents unsealed, describes meeting Kosslyn on Epstein's island, [[Little St. James]], and being coerced into sex with him, and describes him as a "quirky little man with white hair and a mad scientist look about him." It reported that in a 2016 deposition in a defamation case involving her lawyers and Dershowitz she said she "possibly" met Kosslyn and answered "no" when asked whether she had ever had sex with him.[^38] The Daily reported that a 2020 email from the woman's lawyer to an author stated that her client "did not have sex with Stephen Kosslyn," and that Kosslyn's lawyer, [[Christopher Serbagi]], supplied the email to the newspaper.[^39]
Kosslyn denied the allegation in a statement to the Daily on Monday, February 16, 2026. He wrote that the reporting "may leave readers with the impression that there is a legitimate dispute about whether I had sex with" the woman. "There is no such dispute," he added. "I did not." He wrote that "the court ruled that the reference to my name in a draft manuscript was a 'scrivener's error'; my name was redacted." Serbagi told the Daily that a 2019 court document makes it a "stated term" that the mention was a "scrivener's error." The Daily reported that the woman's lawyers and Maxwell's legal team agreed to redact Kosslyn's name from the manuscript citing "privacy interests," that the woman's side did not support redacting his name from Epstein's 2004 to 2005 contact book because "a redaction would...only serve to highlight the name," and that neither Kosslyn nor Serbagi provided the filings behind the ruling when asked.[^38][^40] Kosslyn wrote that "had I known then what I later learned, I would have had nothing to do with him," that he does not question the woman's broader account of Epstein's abuse, and that his name "does not appear in the published book,".[^40]
The Stanford spokesperson told the Daily that the university "[does] not have additional information about any connections between Stephen Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein."[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Names Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn as Founding Dean," March 12, 2013. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Project_Annouces_Stephen_M._Kosslyn.pdf
[^2]: National Science Foundation award records 7616987 (Johns Hopkins University, September 1, 1976 to February 28, 1978), 7721782 (Harvard University, 1977 to 1980), 8240259 (Brandeis University, October 13, 1981 to August 31, 1983) and 8318452 (Harvard University, December 1, 1983 to May 31, 1985), "Visual Images As Memory Structures." https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8240259
[^3]: Aadi Kucheria and Ashton Dolce, "Former Stanford academic Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 visited Epstein in jail, faced allegation of sexual assault," The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
[^4]: Diane E. Lopez, Ara B. Gershengorn and Martin F. Murphy, Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University, Harvard University Office of the General Counsel and Foley Hoag LLP, May 2020, pp. 3 and 5. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
[^5]: "Stephen Kosslyn named divisional dean for the social sciences," Harvard Gazette, April 24, 2008. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/stephen-kosslyn-named-divisional-dean-for-the-social-sciences
[^6]: "Kosslyn appointed director of CASBS," The Stanford Daily, July 29, 2010. https://stanforddaily.com/2010/07/29/kosslyn-appointed-director-of-casbs/
[^7]: Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, "Leadership History," listing Stephen M. Kosslyn as Director, 2011 to 2013. https://casbs.stanford.edu/about/leadership-history
[^8]: Aadi Kucheria and Ashton Dolce, "Details emerge in contested sexual assault claim by Epstein victim against former Stanford psychology professor," The Stanford Daily, February 11, 2026, reporting a statement from university spokesperson Luisa Rapport. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/11/details-sexual-assault-claim-kosslyn/
[^9]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00645047 and EFTA00704445, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
[^10]: Roger Schank and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: minerva project," July 26, 2013, EFTA00966277, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00966277.pdf
[^11]: S. M. Kosslyn, J. L. Brunn, K. R. Cave and R. W. Wallach, "Components of Mental Imagery Representation," Technical Report 1, Brandeis University, January 24, 1983, contract N00014-79-C-0982, DTIC accession ADA124616. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA124616.pdf
[^12]: Kosslyn et al., Technical Reports 3, 4 and 5, Harvard University Department of Psychology, August 20, 1984, contracts N00014-82-C-0166 and N00014-83-K-0095, DTIC accessions ADA145711, ADA145514 and ADA145509. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA145509.pdf
[^13]: Kosslyn, Technical Report 7, "Visual Hemispheric Specialization: A Computational Theory," October 31, 1985, DTIC ADA161296, and Kosslyn, Technical Report 8, "Understanding Charts and Graphs," July 28, 1987, DTIC ADA183409, contract N00014-85-K-0291. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA183409.pdf
[^14]: Stephen M. Kosslyn to Dr. Terry Allard, Office of Naval Research, letters of August 8, 1991 and February 15, 1992, "PET Studies of Components of High-Level Vision," contract N00014-91-J-1243, DTIC ADA240202 and ADA246449. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA240202.pdf
[^15]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," AFOSR/ONR Final Technical Report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, Harvard University, January 25, 1991, DTIC ADA232391 and ADA268426. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA268426.pdf
[^16]: Kosslyn, "Components of High-Level Vision: A Cognitive Neuroscience Analysis and Accounts of Neurological Syndromes," AFOSR/ONR Tech Report 89-1, February 28, 1989, DTIC ADA207848. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA207848.pdf
[^17]: Kosslyn, "The Neuropsychology of Imagery Processing," 1989 annual report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, DTIC ADA216479. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA216479.pdf
[^18]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Neuropsychological Components of Object Identification," annual technical report, December 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991, dated January 10, 1992, DTIC ADA247049, and final technical report, December 1990 to November 1992, dated January 29, 1993, grant AFOSR 91-0100, DTIC ADA261449. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA261449.pdf
[^19]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "DURIP - Computational Modeling of Cognitive Processes," final report, AFOSR-89-0090, December 1, 1988 to November 30, 1989, dated March 6, 1990, DTIC ADA219934. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA219934.pdf
[^20]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Individual Differences in Visual Cognition," final report, AFOSR grant F49620-98-1-0334, period ending November 30, 2000, DTIC ADA387447. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA387447.pdf
[^21]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "DURIP99 Individual Differences in Visual Cognition," final technical report, grant F49620-99-1-0114, March 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000, dated February 9, 2001, DTIC ADA387134. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA387134.pdf
[^22]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, Bruce Draper, Giorgio Ganis and Mark Knobel, "High-Level Vision: Top-Down Processing in Neurally Inspired Architectures," AFRL-RI-RS-TR-2008-35, February 2008, award FA8750-05-2-0270, DARPA Order No. V026/00, DTIC ADA478977. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA478977.pdf
[^23]: National Science Foundation award search, awards 7616987, 7712345, 7721782, 8240259, 8318452, 9009619, 0106760, 0322611 and 0411725, retrieved through the NSF awards API. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0411725 and https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0322611
[^24]: National Institutes of Health RePORTER, project search for principal investigator Stephen M. Kosslyn, including projects R01MH039478, R01AG012675, P01NS017778, P01NS027950, 1F06TW002247, R01MH060734 and T32MH070328. https://reporter.nih.gov/
[^25]: Edwin C. May and Virginia V. Trask, "Forced-Choice Remote Viewing," Final Report, Objective E, Task 4, SRI Project 1291, December 1988, CIA-RDP96-00787R000300010001-9, CIA-RDP96-00789R002200290001-6 and CIA-RDP96-00789R002200280001-7 (the last a copy marked SECRET), and the same report within the "Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, Volume 2 of 2" compilation, CIA-RDP96-00789R003200160001-9. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00789r002200290001-6
[^26]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University, May 2020, pp. 3 and 5 (the gifts), 5 to 8 (the Visiting Fellow application, the September 2, 2005 letter, the approvals and Kosslyn's account), 10 (the November 2008 email) and 26 (the recommendation). https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
[^27]: Kucheria and Dolce, "Former Stanford academic Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 visited Epstein in jail, faced allegation of sexual assault," The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026, reporting the Palm Beach County Jail visitor log (page 45, September 20 and 21, 2008), the 2,145 mentions, the 2003 birthday book and the 2004 to 2005 contact book. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
[^28]: Plaintiff Doe's witness list, Doe v. Epstein, No. 08-CV-80893-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON (S.D. Fla.), entry 102, EFTA00725731 (witness list continuation, page stamped EFTA00725736), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00725731.pdf
[^29]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen Kosslyn emails, July 22, 2009, EFTA01816448, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10; the Daily reports the exchange in Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 18, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01816448.pdf
[^30]: Stephen Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re:," May 4 to 5, 2010, EFTA00759617, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9; Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00759617.pdf
[^31]: Epstein scheduler email "Schedule," April 27, 2011, EFTA00434357, and the same schedule at EFTA00307008, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00434357.pdf
[^32]: S. M. Kosslyn to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: SAVE-THE-DATE," May 5, 2012, EFTA01176697, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01176697.pdf
[^33]: S. M. Kosslyn to Lesley Groff and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Time, place?," August 5, 2012, EFTA01873275, and staff email of August 7, 2012, EFTA02162936, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02162936.pdf
[^34]: Lesley Groff, "Priv & Con Feb. 21-March 27," February 21, 2013, EFTA00395264 (Data Set 9); Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, "thanks," February 22 and 23, 2013, EFTA01760981 (Data Set 10), EFTA00652848 and EFTA00955209 (Data Set 9), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00955209.pdf
[^35]: Epstein scheduler emails "Schedule," June 6 and June 8, 2014, EFTA00669785 and EFTA00368239 (June 6) and EFTA00368272 (June 8), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00669785.pdf
[^36]: Annette Witheridge, on behalf of the Mail on Sunday, to Ghislaine Maxwell, March 4, 2011, forwarded in the thread "Re: Fwd: FW: Ghislaine Maxwell," EFTA00653926 and EFTA00653931, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00653926.pdf
[^37]: Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 11, 2026, reporting Witheridge's interview; "Continuation of Off the Record," paragraphs 14 and 47, EFTA00796700 (pages stamped EFTA00796702 and EFTA00796708), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00796700.pdf
[^38]: Kucheria and Dolce, "Details emerge in contested sexual assault claim by Epstein victim against former Stanford psychology professor," The Stanford Daily, February 11, 2026, reporting the unpublished manuscript, its release in 2019, the 2016 deposition and the agreed redaction. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/11/details-sexual-assault-claim-kosslyn/
[^39]: Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 11, 2026, reporting the 2020 email supplied by Kosslyn's lawyer. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
[^40]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, statement to The Stanford Daily of February 16, 2026, as quoted in Kucheria and Dolce, "Former Stanford professor Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 denies sexual assault claim," The Stanford Daily, February 18, 2026. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/18/stephen-kosslyn-denies-assault-claim/