HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029608.jpg

6 The Virgin Islands Daily News
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Friday, February 22, 2019

Judge: Prosecutors broke law in Epstein sex case

By JULIE K. BROWN
Miami Herald

MIAMI — A judge ruled Thursday that federal prosecutors — among them, U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta — broke federal law when they signed a plea agreement with a wealthy, politically connected sex trafficker and concealed it from more than 30 of his underage victims.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra, in a 33-page opinion, said the evidence he reviewed showed that Jeffrey Epstein had been operating an international sex operation in which he and others recruited underage girls — not only in Florida — but from overseas, in violation of federal law.

'Epstein used paid employees to find and bring minor girls to him,' wrote Marra, who is based in Palm Beach County. 'Epstein worked in concert with others to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification, but also for the sexual gratification of others.'

Instead of prosecuting Epstein under federal sex trafficking laws, Acosta, then the U.S. attorney in Miami, helped negotiate a nonprosecution agreement that gave Epstein and his co-conspirators immunity from federal prosecution. Epstein, who lived in a Palm Beach mansion, was allowed to quietly plead guilty in state court to two prostitution charges and served just 13 months in the county jail. His accomplices, some of whom have never been identified, were never charged.

Acosta agreed to seal the deal, which meant that none of Epstein’s victims, who were mostly 13 to 16 years old at the time of the abuse, were told about it until it was too late for them to ap- pear at his sentencing and possibly reject the deal. Upon learning that Epstein had pleaded guilty without their knowledge, two of his victims filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida in 2008, claiming that prosecutors violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, which grants victims of federal crimes a series of rights, including the ability to confer with prosecutors about a possible plea deal.

[Photo Caption: Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS Jeffrey Epstein, second from left, in custody in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2008.]

Marra agreed, saying that while prosecutors had the right to resolve the case in any way they saw fit, they violated the law by hiding the agreement from Epstein’s victims. Marra’s decision capped 11 years of litigation — which included the release of a trove of emails showing how Acosta and other prosecutors worked with Epstein’s high profile lawyers to conceal the deal — and the scope of Epstein’s crimes — from both his victims and the public.

'Particularly problematic was the Government’s decision to conceal the existence of the (agreement) and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility,' Marra wrote.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Miami declined to comment.

In addition to Palm Beach, Fla., Epstein also has a home in New York and, lives on Little St. James Island off St. Thomas.

Brad Edwards, the Fort Lauderdale attorney who brought the case, said he was elated at the judge’s ruling, but admitted he is bitter that the case took 11 years to litigate, blaming federal prosecutors for needlessly dragging out the case when they could have remedied their error when it was brought to their attention in 2008.

While the victims ultimately would like to see Epstein go to jail, the judge’s ruling stopped short of issuing a remedy or punishment. He gave the government and victims 15 days to confer with each other to come up with a resolution. It’s unclear what that resolution would be.

Edwards conceded that Epstein’s sentence isn’t likely to be overturned. He was released in 2009.

But victims’ rights advocates say that other charges can still be brought against Epstein if more victims come forward in other jurisdictions. There has been no statute of limitations for sex trafficking since 2002.

The decision follows a three-part series published by the Miami Herald in November, 'Perversion of Justice,' which detailed how federal prosecutors worked in concert with Epstein’s lawyers to arrange the deal.

Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a probe into whether federal prosecutors committed any wrongdoing.

Gov. Bryan heads to D.C.

Daily News Staff

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. departed the territory for Washington, D.C. on Thursday for a series of meetings with Trump administration officials and members of Congress.

In his absence, Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach will be acting governor.

Included on Bryan’s schedule is a senior plenary session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas, where he, along with governors from the other U.S. territories, will outline their federal priorities with the leadership of the U.S. Department of Interior.

On Tuesday, Bryan will testify before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during a hearing to examine the state of U.S. territories.

He also will be participating in the National Governors Association conference, during which the governors will have a lunch meeting with Vice President Mike Pence.

Bryan is scheduled to return to the territory on Wednesday.

WSTX FM 100 PRESENTS
Low-Price Maintenance
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029608