Alleged Non‑Prosecution Deal Between U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta and Jeffrey Epstein Shielded Powerful Figures

14 The Virgin Islands Daily News TERN' ERSION OF JUSTICE Wednesday, February 27, 2019 How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime By JULIE K. 610 WN MIAMI — On a muggy October morning in 2007, Miami, top federal prosecutor. Alexan- der Acosta, had a breakfast a,intmeri with a former colleague, Washington, D.C., attorney Jay Lethowitz. It was an unusual meeting for the then-38- year-okl prosecutox a rising Republican star who had grwd in somml White House posts before being named U.S. attorney in Miami by President George W. Bush. Instead of meeting at the pros.utor's Mithni headquarters, the two mai — both with profes- sional roots in the prestigious Washington law finn of Kirldand . Ellis — convened at the Marrien in WeSt Palm Beach, about 70 miles away. For Lethowia, a U.S. special envoy to North Korea and corporate lawyer, the meeting was critical. His clic, Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein. 54, wis accused of assembling a lazie. cuhlthe nenvork of underage gids — with the help of young female r.nriters — to coerce into having sac acts behind the walls of his opulert waterfiont massion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found. The eccentric hedge find manager, whose hien. included former Presi.nt Bill Clinton, Donald Trumpaaidprince.Andr, was al, m =, trs all ipca%negs na iTsr = Manhattan, New Mexico and the Virgin law.. FBI and court merards show. Facing a 53-page federal indictment. Epgein could have ended up in federal prison for the leg of his life. But on the morning oft. breakthst ing, a deal was struuck eicti;:ealid=lea Ogesnst=,thaertine' ntrtheeraiumber of people imnIved. Not only would Epgein sent just 13 months in dse county jail, but the deal — .11. a non- prosecut ion agreement — ...ally shut down an aligning FI31 probe into cs.ther t.re were more victims and other powerful pegic win took part in Epstein's sex crimes, accordng to a Miami Henid examination of thousands of emails, court documeris and FBI records. The pact required Epstein to plead guilty to two prostitudon charges in stale court. Niacin and four of he accomplices named in the agreement re.. immunity from all faleral criminal charges. But even more unusual. the deal included waning .t granted immunity to "any potential co-coisspinicas" w. were also imals. in Epstein, CrirneS. These ac.mplices or participants were not idol.. in thc agreement, leaving it open to interpretation 101061 11 possibly referred to other influential people who were having sex with underage girls at Epgein, serious homes or on his plane. As part of . arrangement, Acosta agreed despite a fe.ral law to t. contrary, that deal would . Imp! from the viethns. As a r.ult. t. rt=invmednb=ge=9ed01ue7tiirer Fa ix,. by a8ACa PRE. njaSgOl'::irag?EaRI-rnbenrt ttantleart httet l'avriat'y Otielltr:01 rr'Itigrittriretf'r44"Eliaahteelined, a sexual abuser of girls. 9 Jeffrey preyed 00 91116 who were in a bad way, girls who were basically homeless. He went 01101 9146 who he thought no one would listen to and he was right. any chance that &girls —or anyone else — mit L:lirtivietinryccorhotdar.,d`,a2;., by unlimited fun. and represented by a poswthouse legal team. was able to manipulate the crninal justice system. and how his accusers. trau- matized by their pasts. belkve they were betrayed by 1111 1610 prosecutors who pledged to rrotect them. doWt thi. anyone has been told the Utah ;bp's tliC olal es,Y= teas:, 0011 01101 190 ruined fife and a lot of girls' lives. People 11011 11 know w.t he did and why he wasn't Pr'Nocevt.ele'rde:ITI7ornat=sne;rctaly o f labor, Acosta, 49, overse. a niassivc federal 0 a06 oniTvhs7iM1 dde0 660109911 of 00 161611110 Acosta aid not refpond to numerous requests — COurtneyWild who was 14 when she rnet Epstein '97 t rail': :MI gr: eg r tiations and the role that Acosta would play in arranging the deal, which scuakd the federal probe into a possible international sex trafficking operation. Among other dings Acorta Epstein, lawyers unusual frecdonts in diemting the temss of the non-prosecution agreement 'T. damage that happened in this case is un- conscionable,- said Bmdlcy Edwards, a formcr gate prosecutor who represents sane of Epstein, victims "How in the world, do you, . U.S. attorney, engage in a negotiation with a criminal .fendant, basically allowing that criminal defendant to write up the agreement?' Ettls As a resuh, neither the victims— nor even the jatIltedTy wse°11111=sh*e wd befinVi20E1 0011 2005, %%hen underage sa activities were first uncovered by police. Police referred the case to ho Ih0tftV; ines.Viaglea rt nnhe" thb7arn= the Palm Beach State Attorney, Office. Not 'he said, she said' ACTZ=rc: tis"' 50-something 'shes' and one 'he. — and the 'shes' all basically told the same gory, said retired Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter, win SupaviSed It=ban a d.thle later, at a time when Olympic gymnasts and Hollywood actress. have become a catalyst for a cultural reckoning about sexual abuse, Epstein, victims have all but been forgo.. T. women — now in t.ir late 20s and early 30s — are still fighting for an el us. justice that ewn the passage of time has not made right. Lila ether victims of sexual abusc, they be- lieve they've been silenced by a criminal _Make system that stubbornly fails to hold Epstein and ot.r me,althy and powerful mcn "Jeffrey preyed on girls who were in a bad way, gids who were tnsically homel.s. He went atler girls who he thought no me would listen to and he vms right,' said Counney Wild w. was 14 w.n she met Epstein. Oser the pag year, the Miani Herald oc- amined a d.ade, worth °foam documents, lawsuits, witness depositions and newly released FBI documents. Key people inwlved in . investigation — most of whom haw never ,oken before — weir also interview. The Herald also obtained new records, inducing the full unredacted copy oft. Palm Beach pike inv.tigation and witness stitcmcnts that had been kept un.r The Herald learned that, as , of t. plea deal, Epstein prosided what the government calkd "valuable consideration" for unspecified information he supplied to federal investigators. Whik the documents obtained by the Herald don't detail what the infonnation was. Epstein, te:Cserigh:g=o7lathp:e=g in the 2008 global fmancial crisis. Reco. shay that Epstein was a key fed- eralwimeas in the criminal_prose,tsion,of two rl Tnnutc.e171 enttirrnc kvierVe 7tirstSftlreld' )200 t1, who were accused of corporate securiti. fraud. Epstein was one of the largest investors in the hedge fiind managed by the executives, who ,scre later acquitted. It is not known what role, if, the case played in Epacin, plea negotiaticns. lbc Herald also identified about 80 women %al lyTurby"aestnc in from 200 to 2096. About nksted or otherwise sem. Michael Reiter See PERVERSION, page 16