EFTA01265910.pdf

5=2019 Prosecutors Broke Law in Agreement Not to Prosecute Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Rules - The New York Times
ghe New pork at us
Prosecutors Broke Law in
Agreement Not to Prosecute Jeffrey
Epstein, Judge Rules
By Patricia Mazzei
Feb. 21, 2019
MIAMI — Prosecutors led by Alexander R. Acosta, who is now the secretary of labor, violated
federal law when they failed to tell victims about an agreement not to prosecute Jeffrey E.
Epstein, a wealthy New York financier accused of molesting dozens of underage girls, a federal
judge ruled on Thursday.
The agreement not to pursue federal sex trafficking charges, negotiated in secret while
prosecutors told victims that a case against Mr. Epstein was still possible, violated the federal
Crime Victims' Rights Act, ruled Judge Kenneth A. Marra of Federal District Court in West Palm
Beach, Fla. He gave the government and the two victims who sued 15 days to discuss what
remedy should apply in the case.
Federal prosecutors had initially drafted a 53-page indictment against Mr. Epstein, but under the
deal negotiated in 2008, he pleaded guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting a minor for
prostitution and served 13 months at the Palm Beach County Stockade. While there, Mr. Epstein
was allowed to leave custody and work out of his office six days a week.
The court's ruling on Thursday could nullify the non-prosecution agreement and subject Mr.
Epstein and any co-conspirators in the case to new federal charges, said Jack Scarola, a lawyer
for the two victims who challenged the agreement.
But even if the deal is set aside, prosecutors could draft a new, similar agreement, this time with
full disclosure to the victims, Mr. Scarola said.
Mr. Epstein's accusers have sought justice for years. Interest in the case was renewed in the
MeToo era, after some women publicly detailed Mr. Epstein's assaults in a report published by
The Miami Herald last year. The Justice Department said earlier this month that it had opened an
investigation into potential professional misconduct by prosecutors who negotiated Mr. Epstein's
plea deal.
You have 2 free articles remaining.
Subscribe to The Times
R.
hNTIAL SDNY_GM_00005911
https:/NAvyi.nytimes.corn/2019/02/21/usrjeffrey-ee 1/3
EF1'A_00119974
EFTA01265910

5=2019 Prosecutors Broke Law in Agreement Not to Prosecute Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Rules - The New York Times
Mr. Acosta was the United States attorney in Miami at the time the agreement was negotiated.
Mr. Epstein's accusers were mostly teenage girls at the time of the abuse; because prosecutors
did not notify them about the deal in advance, they were unable to object before it went into
effect.
In his ruling, Judge Marra called it "particularly problematic" that the government had concealed
the existence of the 2008 agreement and misled the victims "to believe that federal prosecution
was still a possibility"
"When the government gives information to victims, it cannot be misleading;' he wrote.
Investigators found that from 1999 to 2005, Mr. Epstein, a former hedge fund manager with
powerful friends, including President 'frump and former President Bill Clinton, lured girls as
young as 14 or 15 years old into his mansions in Palm Beach, New York and the Virgin Islands. He
paid them cash to engage in nude massages, masturbation and oral sex. In some instances, he
asked girls to recruit other girls into his sex ring, the accusers told police.
In a statement responding to the court ruling on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Labor
Department said the decisions made by Mr. Acosta's prosecutors had been defended by the
Justice Department for more than a decade "in litigation across three administrations and several
attorneys general."
"The office's decisions were approved by departmental leadership and followed departmental
protocols," the statement added.
A spokeswoman for United States attorney's office in Miami declined to comment.
Fresh outrage over the case in recent months has prompted congressional inquiries and a digital
advertising campaign from Allied Progress, a progressive group that is urging the Senate to
authorize an investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general. The current Justice
Department investigation, announced earlier this month in response to requests by Senator Ben
Sasse of Nebraska, is led by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
The two victims who sued to challenge the non-prosecution agreement are identified in court
papers as "Jane Doe 1" and "Jane Doe 2," though The Herald has identified Jane Doe 1 as
The women's lawyer, Bradley J. Edwards, settled a separate lawsuit against Mr.
Epstein in state court in December, days after the Herald report was published. As part of that
settlement, Mr. Epstein said in a statement delivered by one of his lawyers that he apologized for
wrongfully suing Mr. Edwards in an attempt to hurt his reputation and stop him from pursuing
the current case based on the federal Crime Victims' Rights Act.
Mr. Edwards did not immediately respond to phone or email requests for comment.
Mr. Scarola said several other aspects of the case remain to be decided, but the ruling on
Thursday was important for the victims.
Fi hNTIAL SONYGM_00005912
httpsiMnsAanytimes.com/2019/02/21/usffeffrey- e€ el 2/3
EFTA_00119975
EFTA01265911

512212019 Prosecutors Broke Law in Agreement Not to Prosecute Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Rules - The New York Times
"We've been waiting for a long time," he said. "It is one significant step in the right direction,
though we still have a ways to go?'
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 21, 2019. on Page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Judge Says That Prosecutors
Led by Acosta Broke the Law
ReENTIAL SDNY_GM_00005913
httpsiNAyw.nytimes.corn/2019/02/21/usijeffrey -e€ e 3/3
EFTA_00119976
EFTA01265912