Judge rules Federal Prosecutors broke law by hiding plea deal from millionaire sex offender’s victims
Jeffrey Epstein and Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, it’s one that goes back 14 years. Starting in 2005, the now 66-year-old Epstein was accused of molesting underage girls in his Palm Beach, Florida mansion by offering them money in exchange for massages. An investigation carried out by Palm Beach police state there is probable cause to charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor. Along the way, it’s discovered that Epstein may have had as many as 40 victims and may have allowed some of his wealthy and powerful friends to use the girls as well.
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To cut to the heart of matters, Epstein eventually reached what’s called a non-prosecution agreement where Epstein would plead guilty to minor state charges and would only serve 13 months in Palm Beach County jail. As you may imagine, this wasn’t the harshest prison treatment as Epstein was allowed to move about the area freely while conducting business only having to report back to the jail at night. Meanwhile, his victims were never informed of the plea deal and were told that the FBI was still investigating Epstein. The man who brokered the deal was then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta who is now the current Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration. Epstein and Trump were at one time, close friends. As was Bill Clinton but President Clinton was in no position at the time to name people to presidential cabinets.
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Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that federal prosecutors broke the law by not revealing the non-prosecution agreement to victims and by telling the victims the investigation was still ongoing. This violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. Unfortunately, as of right now there’s no sure way on how to move forward with any further criminal action against Epstein since he served his ‘sentence’ and the Crime Victims’ Rights Act does not specifically state how violators should be punished.
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It’s obvious that if Epstein was any other run of the mill child trafficker, he would have been facing a probable life sentence in prison. However, since he is a wealthy and connected man he basically served his sentence in a dormitory and only at night. It’s difficult to have faith in a system that has allowed this to happen and offers little to recompense for his victims.
If you want to read an in-depth analysis of the Epstein case we highly recommend the Miami Herald’s Perversion of Justice investigation.
Did prosecutors cherry pick victims to lessen Jeffrey Epstein’s registry requirements? | Greg's Corner 8:00 am on March 19, 2019 Permalink
[…] In our previous post about Jeffrey Epstein, we discussed the sweetheart plea deal he got from former US Attorney and current Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta. In exchange for pleading guilty to minor state charges that involved trafficking underage girls, Epstein would only serve a 13-month sentence in the Palm Beach County Jail in Florida. That sentence also allowed the financier to go to work during the day and return to jail at night. That was a sentence for a man who allegedly had 40 underage victims. Also in our previous post, we mentioned how a US District Judge ruled the plea illegal since prosecutors at the time did not report the plea deal to Epstein’s victims. This was in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act but unfortunately, under the act, there’s no clear punishment for those who violate the act. If you would like to read all the details about the Jeffrey Epstein case we highly recommend the Miami Herald’s report which they call Perversion of Justice. However, if you think that Epstein’s sentence was a slap in the face to his victims, wait until you hear how the terms of his sex offender status were determined. […]
Jeffrey Epstein: What Happens Next? | Greg's Corner 8:00 am on August 12, 2019 Permalink
[…] financier and accused child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein since the news first broke of the generously lenient plea deal he received in Florida. If you’ll recall, Epstein was given his plea deal back in 2005 by Alexander Acosta who was a […]