HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018921.jpg

Polygraph shows he didn't know girls' ages, lawyer says

► EPSTEIN from 1B

using the name "Pimpin' Made EZ." Robson, who was not charged in the case, is a potential prosecution witness.

According to Recarey, prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek offered Epstein attorneys Dershowitz and Guy Fronstin a plea deal in April. Fronstin, after speaking with Epstein, accepted the deal, in which Epstein would plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, be placed on five years' probation and have no criminal record. The deal also called for Epstein to submit to a psychiatric and sexual evaluation and have no unsupervised visits with minors, according to Recarey's report. The plea bargain was made in connection with only one of the five alleged victims, the report states.

Fronstin — who declined to comment on the case — was subsequently fired and veteran defense attorney Jack Goldberger was hired. He denies there was any agreement by any of Epstein's attorneys to a plea deal.

"We absolutely did not agree to a plea in this case," he said. Neither Belohlavek nor a state attorney's spokesman could be reached for comment.

The parent or parents of alleged victims who complained of being harassed by private investigators provided license tag numbers of two of the men. Police found the vehicles were registered to a private eye in West Palm Beach and another in Jupiter, according to Recarey's report.

"I have no knowledge of it," defense attorney Goldberger said.

The report also says a woman connected to the Epstein case was contacted by somebody who was still in touch with Epstein. That person told her she would be compensated if she didn't cooperate with police, Recarey's report says. Those who did talk "will be dealt with," the woman said she was told. Phone records show the woman talked with the person who allegedly intimidated her around the time she said, Recarey reported.

Phone records also show that the person said to have made the threat then placed a call to Epstein's personal assistant, who in turn called a New York corporation affiliated with Epstein, the report states.

The issue in the Epstein case is not whether females came to his waterfront home, but whether he knew their ages.

"He's never denied girls came to the house," Goldberger said. But when Epstein was given a polygraph test, "he passed on knowledge of age," the attorney said.

After the indictment against Epstein was unsealed this week, Police Chief Reiter referred the matter to the FBI. "We've received the referral, and we're reviewing it," said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami.

The chief himself has come under attack from Epstein's lawyers and friends in New York, where he has a home. The New York Post quoted Epstein's prominent New York lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, as saying his client was indicted only "because of the craziness of the police chief."

Reiter has declined to comment on the case.

Prosecutors have not presented a sex-related case like Epstein's to a grand jury before, said Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state attorney's office. "That's what you do with a case that falls into a gray area," he said.

The state attorney's office did not recommend a particular criminal charge on which to indict Epstein, Edmondson said. The grand jury was presented with a list of charges from highest to lowest, then deliberated with the prosecutor out of the room, he said.

"People are surprised at the grand jury proceeding," West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Tendler said. "It's a way for the prosecutor's office to not take the full responsibility for not filing the (charge), and not doing what the Palm Beach Police Department wanted. I think something fell apart with those underage witnesses."

Defense attorney Robert Gershman was a prosecutor for six years. "Those girls must have been incredible or untrustworthy, I don't know," he said.

Other attorneys said Epstein's case raises the issue of whether wealthy, connected defendants like Epstein — whose friends include former President Clinton and Donald Trump — are treated differently from others. Once he knew he was the subject of a criminal probe, Epstein hired a phalanx of powerful attorneys such as Dershowitz and Lefcourt, who is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Miami lawyer Roy Black — who became nationally known when he successfully defended William Kennedy Smith on a rape charge in Palm Beach — also was in-volved at one point.

Said defense attorney Michelle Suskauer: "I think it's unfortunate the public may get the perception that with power, you may be treated differently than the average Joe."

larry_keller@pbpost.com
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018921