Publisher's summons and complaint against State Attorney over Epstein records, 2019

Filing # 98869063 E-Filed 11/14/2019 11:06:37 AM¶

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, 15th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA¶

CASE NO.:¶

CA FLORIDA HOLDINGS, LLC, Publisher of THE PALM BEACH POST¶

Plaintiff¶

v.¶

DAVE ARONBERG, as State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida, SHARON R. BOCK, as Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida,¶

Defendants.¶

S¶

DEFENDANT: Dave Aronberg, as State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida 401 N. Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, Florida 33401¶

/01456,,¶

A lawsuit has been filed against you. You have 20 calendar days after this summons is served on you to file a written response to the attached Complaint with the Clerk of this Court. A phone call will not protect you. Your written response, including the case number given above and the names of the parties, must be filed if you want the Court to hear your side of the case. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken without further warning from the Court. There are other legal requirements. Yon may want to call an atiotney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or’a legal aid office (listed in the phone book). If you choose to file a written response yourself, at the same time you file your written response to the Court you must also mail or take a copy of your written response to the: Stephen A. Mendelsohn, Esquire, Greenberg Traurig, P.A., 5100 Town Center Circle, Suite 400, Boca Raton, Florida 33486, Telephone: (561) 955-7600.¶

Party JOINT¶

ID4 J04 EN/#2b 4. DATE ADMITTED: q& •¶

Case No. 20194R-0146/1 ABRUZZO CLERK CERCUR COURT¶

Joint Exhibit J04¶

THE STATE OF FLORIDA¶

TO EACH SHERIFF OF THE STATE: You are commandcd to serve this•Sumrnons and a copy of the Cotnplaint in titis lawsuit on the aboye named Defendant.¶

DATED on November , 2019 NOY 15 2019¶

Sharon R. Bock As Clerk & Comptroller of the Court¶

By:¶

IMPORTANTE¶

Deputy CleilL”! DOLLY SARCIA,¶

Usted ha sido demandado legalmente. Tiene. 20 Dits, contados a panir del recibo de esta notificacion, para contester la demanda adjunta, por escrito, y presentirla ante este eibunal. Una gamada telefonica no Ici incitera. Si usted &mea que el tribunal considere su defensa,debe psi:enter su respuesta por escrito, incluyendo el numero del caso y los nombres de las partes interesadas. Si usted no contesta la demanda a tiempo, pudiese perdu cl caso y podria ser despojado de sus ingresos ,y propiedades, o privado de sus derechos, sin previo aviso del tribunal. Existen otros requisitos fessier,. Si lo desea, puede usted consultar a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, imede Hamm a una de las oficinas dc asistencia legal que aparecen en la gula telefonica.¶

Si desea responder a la demanda por su cucnta,,a1 arise tiempo en que presenta su respuesta ante el tribunal, deben usted envier por correo o entrent unit copia de su respuesta a la persona denominada abajo como “PlaintiffiPlaintiffs Attorney” (Demandante o Abogado del Demandante).¶

ril’ORTANT¶

Des poursuites judiciares ont etc entreprises contre vous. Vous avez 20 jours consecutifs a partir de la date dc l’assignation de cette citation pour.deposer une repense cerne a la plainte ci-jointe stupres de ce tribunal. Un simple coup de tehrphone est insuffisant pour vous proteger. Vous etes oblige de deposer votre repense cerise, avec mention du numero de dossier ci-dessus et du nom des parties nominen ici, si vous souhaitez que le tribunal entende votre cause. Si vous ne deposez pas votre repaise emite dans le celai requis, vous risquez de perdre la cause ainsi que votre salaire, votre argent; et vos biens peuvent esse saisis par la suite, sans Amura preavis ulterieur du tribunal. 11 y a d’autres obligations juridiques et vous pouvez requerir len servien innnediats d’un avocat Si vous ne connaissez pas d’avocat, vous pourriez telephoner a un jseiviu de if /ermite d’avocats ou a un bureau d’assistance juridique (figurant a l’annuaire de telepbones).¶

(Ca choisissez de deposer vous-mcmc une reponse cerise, il vous faudra egalement, en menu tem °cite formalise, faire parvenir ou expédia une copie de votre reponse cerise au tiffs Attorney’ (Plaignant ou a sou avocat) nomme ci-dessous.¶

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA¶

CA FLORIDA HOLDINGS, LLC, CASE NO.: Publisher of THE PALM BEACH POST,¶

Plaintiff,¶

v.¶

DAVE ARONBERG, as State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida; SHARON R. BOCK, as Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida,¶

Defendants.¶

CA Florida Holdings, LLC, publisher of each Post, for its Complaint against Dave Aronberg, the State Attorney for Paltry h C my, Florida, in his official (“State Attorney”), and Sharon R Bock, th he Court for Palm Beach County, Florida, in her official capacity (“Court Clerk” C , s follows:¶

tJ JURISDICTION¶

This is an within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Circuit Court pursuant to Ha. Stat. Secti 012(2)(a).¶

• O The Palm Beach Post is a daily community newspaper published by Plaintiff CA Florida Holdings, LW, with offices located at 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida.
• 3. Defendant Dave Aronberg is the duly elected State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida, pursuant to Fla. Stat. i Section 27.01 and

PARTIES¶

has authority in grand jury proceedings pursuant to Fla. Stat. section 27.03 He is sued herein in his official capacity as his office is in possession of documents that are the subject of this action.¶

4. Defendant Sharon R. Bock is the duly elected Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida. She is sued herein in her official capacity as her office is in possession of documents that are the subject of this action.

INTRODUCTION¶

4 7 5. In what is now widely if belatedly recognized as a colossal mis e ofjustice which led to the further needless victimization of countless young J girlC on n — a wealthy, politically connected, and powerful financier was not held accountably , nor even forced to confront, allegations of serious sex trafficking crimes. While,i,t that Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 deal with the State of Florida was not consistent with dince gathered against him, what remains shrouded in mystery is how that evidence\ presented — and the extent to which it was presented — to the grand jury that returned ari indictment far more limited in scope than expected and deserved.¶

6. Through this ac palm Reach Post seeks public access to the testimony, minutes, and other evidence p tkl in 2006 to the Palm Beach County grand jury empaneled during the first Epstein s a ise investigation. Typically, access to such materials is limited, for example, in or r revent the flight of those whose indictment may be contemplated and their ability t r destroy evidence; to ensure jurors’ candor in deliberations; and to protect an accus s later exonerated. However, these factors are inapplicable here. Also, Florida law expressly authorizes the disclosure of grand jury proceedings under certain circumstances, including, as here, in the furtherance ofjustice. Fla. Stat. §905.27(1Xc).

7. It can no longer credibly be maintained that continued blanket secrecy over the proceedings that led to the egregiously flawed 2006 Epstein indictment is warranted under the law.

To the contrary, transparency is required to promote public understanding’ f the criminal justice system and public confidence in the fair administration of justice. As detailed below, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of women and girls in south Florida (among other locations) over a period of several years while exploiting his wealth and political connections to obstruct the administration of justice at every turn. Public disclosure of the Epstein nd jury proceedings will shed light on the extent to which those in our government em’th the solemn responsibility of enforcing our criminal laws equally as to all citizen i d their duties in this instance. Justice will be furthered where it is either (1) demonstra eat was treated like others accused of similar heinous crimes, or (2) as appears more I y)to be the case, those who chose to give Epstein favorable —“unusual,” in the words Chief— treatment, are exposed and held accountable. F, r6t14/ public domain, the State Attorney’s referral to th \ {sup}Ara Cr ‘u ry - which would be out of the ordinary own of Palm Beach Police imited information is now in the for this type of case — gives rise to a strong’ of favoritism and corresponding disregard :7-7’i for the rights of the minor victims of,EpSteires-sex trafficking. Access to the grand jury materials Nt. will allow the public to deterrif twifetbithe grand jury process, and the secrecy that comes with it, was used to further justice o ead, operated to shield Epstein and his co-conspirators from the consequences of their nal activities. Accordingly, Ha. Slat Section 905.27 authorizes the disclosure of E ‘s 2006 grand jury proceedings.¶

Even in the absence of such a statutory basis, this Court is empowered to order public disclosure pursuant to its inherent authority and supervisory powers over the grand jury. Indeed, courts throughout the country in the past several decades have ordered the disclosure of high-profile grand jury proceedings pursuant to their inherent authority where the public’s interest in those proceedings has outweighed the general need for secrecy. This is particularly so where,¶

as here, many of the details of Epstein’s criminal misdeeds have already been made available in the public domain through extensive news reporting by, among others, The Palm Beach Post; by the many civil suits brought against Epstein and his co-conspirators; and by the victims themselves.¶

9. In recognition of the sensitivity of the materials being sought, and in the interest of protecting any victims who wish to remain anonymous, The Palm Beach Post has no objection to copies of the testimony, minutes, and other evidence presented in 2006 to the Palm etackCounty grand jury first being submitted to this Court for in camera review, where tljeykdltbe redacted, as appropriate, to protect those who deserve such protection.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND¶

10. The following facts were gathered, in large pan, from documents obtained by The Palm Beach Post through various Florida Public Records Law requests, documents unsealed or publicly available in other related judicial proceedings, and information and documents in the X -\,\ public record.

A. Fir t F 2005- 2008. Indictment, and Plea Aereement:¶

11. The investigati pstein’s sex crimes began more than fourteen years ago, when a 14-year-old girl 7 4e 40,mother reported to police in the Town of Palm Beach, Florida, that Epstein and othe who rked for him arranged for her to give Epstein a “massage.” Epstein required thelifi 0 st p, exposed himself, and masturbated while touching her. The girl was paid $300. Ep3tt iAR4as 52 years old at the time.

Following this initial report in 2005, the Town of Palm Beach Police, and later, in 2006, the FBI, investigated Epstein. Interviews under oath with five additional alleged victims and seventeen witnesses revealed that the events described by the 14-year-old girl occurred, with disturbingly similar details, with each of the other victims.¶

13. Both the victim/witness interviews, as well as evidence retrieved following a search of Epstein’s home, showed that some of the girls involved were under the age of 18. The police search of Epstein’s residence also found two hidden cameras and, throughout the house, large numbers of nude photos of girls, including victims whom the police had not interviewed in the course of their investigation.

14. In March 2006, a State grand jury was scheduled at which all of th s were expected to testify. The proceeding was postponed, however, due to meetin een the State Attorney’s office and Epstein’s prominent criminal defense lawyer ant I friend, Alan Dershowitz.

15. Another grand jury was convened in April / 2006, but canceled the day before it was -’ to begin receiving evidence. \ )’- ii A

(I) Police Chief Reiter’sLet(gr to’ the State Attorney.¶

,,,- ’,” 16. On May 1, 2006. Town of<P, alcBeach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrote a “personal and confidential” letter tor t4+1 m Beach County State Attorney, Barry Krischer, stating¶

I must renew my prio rvation to you that I continue to find your office’s treatment of [the Epstein) cases highly unusual. It is regrettable that I am forced to communicate in this manner, but my most recent telephone calls to you and those of the lead detective to your assigned attorneys have been unanswered and messages remain unreturned. After giving this much thought and consideration, I must urge you to examine the unusual course that your office’s handling of this matter has taken and consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases. (Emphasis supplied)¶

17 Chief Reiter’s letter to State Attorney Krischer enclosed the Town of Palm Beach Police Department’s probable cause affidavits charging Epstein and two of his assistants with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor and one count of sexual abuse, and requested Beach County 18 Instead, State Attorney Krischer elected to refer the case to a grand jury, which is mandatory for capital cases but rarely used for all other crimes. According to an official spokesperson, this was the first time that a sex crimes case was presented to a grandiuNt Palm¶

that either an arrest warrant be issued for Epstein or the State Attorney directly initiate the charges against him, which would be public.¶

(2) The July 2006 State Grand Jury Presentation.¶

19. In July 2006, after State Attorney Krischer presented tes Co • evidence from one victim, the grand jury returned an indictment on a sole count of ‘citkion of prostitution. There is no mention in the indictment of the victim being a

20. On information and belief, a second of st victims was supposed to testify before the grand jury, but was unable to attend b a of a school exam.

2I. No reasonable explanation h n provided as to why the numerous other known victims were not presented as witness me victims to the grand jury convened in July 2006. Nor has any reasonable explan don provided as to why State Attorney Krischer, who was initially eager to investigate an ute Epstein for his crimes, over time lost the desire to do so.¶

22. ormation and belief, during the grand jury appearance of the single victim who tes *fi State Attorney presented evidence that vilified the victim and attacked her credib ty, luding soliciting testimony regarding underage drinking and questionable personal behavior that was unrelated to the charges against Epstein. Further upon information and belief, this information was initially brought to the attention of the State Attorney’s office by Epstein’s defense counsel.

(3) The FBI’s Investigation and Epstein’s Non-Prosecution Agreement With Federal Authorities.¶

23. On information and belief, following the deficient July 2006 indictment, and with Chief Reiter’s encouragement, the FBI began its own investigation of Epstein.

24. Records unsealed in 2015 revealed that the FBI compiled reports on “34 confirmed minors” that were victims of Epstein’s sexual predations. Based on evidence gathered b he FBI, a 53-page indictment was prepared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in June 2007. eve , at the request of Epstein’s lawyers, the indictment was never presented to a feder

25. Instead, then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of lorida, Alexander Acosta, negotiated a plea deal with Epstein’s team of lawyers to gran nity to Epstein (along with four named co-conspirators and any unnamed potential cot ors) from all federal criminal charges.

26. Throughout the remainder of Str rough the first half of 2008, Epstein’s lawyers and the U.S Attorney continu otiat c g the plea arrangement. Upon information and belief, Epstein’s lawyers insiste th he victims not be notified, (2) the deal be kept confidential and under seal, a (3) a I rand jury subpoenas (including one that had already been issued for Epstein’s coat fivrs) be withdrawn.

27. O une 30z 008, Epstein pled guilty to State charges: one count of solicitation of prostitutio e unt of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18. He was sent onths in jail, followed by a year of community control or house arrest, and was adjudicat as a convicted sex offender required to register twice a year in Florida.

28. The plea deal, called a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”), allowed Epstein to receive immunity from federal sex-trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.

On information and belief, based on public records, former State Attorney Krischer communicated with then U.S. Attorney Acosta concerning the NPA’s negotiation with Epstein’s lawyers.¶

29. Indeed, Epstein was not incarcerated in a Florida prison for the State crimes for which he was convicted. Instead, he was placed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade, where, after 3 1/2 months, he was allowed to leave the jail on “work release” for up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. His private driver provided his transportation to and work.”

30. Epstein was released five months early.

31 Upon information and belief, Epstein violated the terms-of l Sp ation, but was not prosecuted.¶

(4) The Crime Victims’ Rights Aft 1.,’ on. 14” / ,,,,,¶

32. Epstein’s victims only learned after the faNct about his plea in State court and filed an emergency petition to force federal prosecuto r\ to mply with the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (18 U.S.C. § 3771, “CVRA”), which mandates rtai rights for crime victims, including the right to be informed about plea agreemen a kharight to appear at sentencing. U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra recently ruleetha ral prosecutors violated the CVRA by failing to notify Epstein’s victims before“~~owit all hil to plead guilty to only the two State offenses.

33. The pros s failure to keep the victims apprised, among other things, also contravenes th a Constitution, Article 1, § 16(b) and Fla. Stat. § 960.001.

owing publicity exposing the extraordinary leniency of the plea deal, dozens of civil s w e brought against Epstein, most of which Epstein’s lawyers settled out-of-court.¶

35. In 2010, Epstein was registered as a “level three” (i.e., high risk of repeat offense) sex offender in New York, a lifelong designation. In 2011, the New York County District Attorney’s office unsuccessfully sought to lower his registration to low-risk “level one.”

36. Upon information and belief, during the course of the Town of Palm Beach and FBI investigations, Epstein retained private investigators to follow, harass, and photograph his victims and their families, as well as Chief Reiter and the Town of Palm Beach detective who investigated the case against Epstein.

37. Upon information and belief, Epstein’s victims were threatened against cooperating with law enforcement and told that they would be compensated only if they did not te with law enforcement.

B. Second Epstein Sex Crimes Investigation, Indictment, Suicidet-2 019. ⁱ¶

38. On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.

39. Upon information and belief, the United States gove ent’s investigation of new \S” allegations and charges stemmed, in pan, from continued pre#sAnvestigations into and reporting tr\ on the mishandling of the 2006 charges and the civilletts that followed.

40. In a July 8, 2019, letter to the federal district court by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Epstein described as “a serial sexual predator who preyed on dozens of minor girls over a pe .” The letter emphasized that “the Government has real concerns — grounded in past ex ce with this defendant — that if allowed to remain out on bail, the defendant could atte pressure and intimidate witnesses and potential witnesses in this case, including vt s and their families, and otherwise attempt to obstruct justice.” It also describ t Its of the FBI’s search of Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse: evidence of sex tra is g t he form of “hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of sexually suggestive photographs of fully- or partially-nude females,” including underage females. In a locked safe, compact discs were found with handwritten labels including the descriptions: “Young [Name] + [Name],” “Mist nudes 1,” and “Girl pits nude.”

41. On July 8, 2019, prosecutors with the Public Corruption Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex. The grand jury indictment alleges that “dozens” of underage girls were brought into Epstein’s mansions for sexual encounters. A few days later, owing to public outcry over the NPA with Epstein entered into by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, who by then was serving as U.S. Secretary of Labor Trump administration, resigned from office.

42. Epstein was denied bail and was placed into pretrial- det at the federal Metropolitan Correction Center in lower Manhattan.

43. On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead\Cin is cell at the Metropolitan e/ ). Correctional Center. His cause of death was determinedAto -\b e4uicide.

C. The August 27, 2019, SDNY Hearing: F.gstein’s Victims Speak.¶

44. On account of his death, prosecutors sought to dismiss the indictment against Epstein, while maintaining that they ekieontinue to investigate his co-conspirators.

45. United States Sertior istrict Judge Richard M. Berman ordered a hearing on August 27, 2019, on the prosecuted’ decision to dismiss the indictment and allowed victims to speak at the hearin

46. course of the hearing, more than two dozen victims delivered their personal stories stration, and sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein. Several victims spoke of violen ape Epstein. Many more victims were present in the courtroom but did not testify.

47. While some questioned the reasoning behind the court’s decision to give the victims voice after Epstein’s death, District Judge Berman noted that “a public hearing is [the] preferred vehicle of resolution,” emphasizing that “public hearings are exactly what judges do. Hearings promote transparency and they provide the court with insights and information which the court may not otherwise be aware of.” Indeed, even Epstein’s defense lawyer noted at the hearing that the court “is the institution that most people have confidence in, in these very troubled times.”

48. At the August 27th hearing, the girls, now women, spoke about their “exploitation and coercion,” and to the fact that many of them “were in very vulnerable situations and in extreme poverty, circumstances where [they] didn’t have anyone on [their] side, to speak n [their] behalf…” One victim lamented that “as a victim, [she] never got to see what the ent was or why the special treatment got approved” in the Florida case years earlier er noted how “completely different” the investigators leading to the 2019 federal ‘alG ) C iee were from the prosecutors in the Florida case, both in their treatment of her and .)investigation of her victimization by Epstein

49. A former federal judge in attendance st 27th hearing emphasized that “transparency is one of the overriding objective, ’ \ o criminal justice system.”

50. Nearly all of the victims ex Epstein has caused them “irrepara wrongdoings, and those of the L’intiv c) who enabled his sexual racketeering, would allow for at least some measure of justice served after his death. Indeed, one victim stated: “Any efforts made to protect Ep tein’s e and legacy send a message to the victims that he wins and that he is untouchable, her victim expressed fear that this is a world “where there are predators in power, a ere people can avoid justice if their pockets run deep enough.” In short, the “unusu treatment Epstein received in Florida in 2006 based on his wealth, social status, and connections severely eroded the public’s faith in the integrity and impartiality of the criminal justice system. d t e conviction that the secrecy that shielded nd that an opportunity to address his criminal

D. The Palm Beach Post’s Standing and the Public interest.¶

51 Plaintiff, The Palm Beach Post, is a community newspaper serving readers in Palm • Beach County and the Treasure Coast vicinity.¶

52. The Palm Beach Post has been a Pulitzer Prize winner and nominated as a finalist three other times.

53. Beginning in 2004, The Palm Beach Post has extensively investigated eported on the allegations against, the law enforcement investigation of, and the cn mmitted by, Epstein and his co-conspirators. The Newspaper’s reportage has inylud uhlication of the following articles:

• “The Man Who Had Everything: Jeffrey Epstein Craved Big Homes, Elite Friends and Investi ators Say, Underage Girls.,” published on August 14, 2006, reporting that: a local community college student, admitted in a sworn statement to police that “she had taken at least six gi is to visit Epstein, all between the ages of 14 and 16;” Palm Beach Police “intery u five alleged victims and 17 witnesses;” “Dershouiu, the Harvard law prof o aveled to West Palm Beach with information about the girls,” including social rt dia discussions about “their use of alcohol and marijuana;” after meeting with Epst ‘n’s legal team, “prosecutors postponed their decision to take the case to a grandjury;” Palm Beach Police subsequently “received complaints that two of the victims or their families had been harassed or threatened;” “relations between police and prosecutors were fraying” as the investigation continued; and “one girl who was subpoenaed - the one who said she had sexual intercourse with Epstein - never showed up” to testify before the grand jury.

• “Trump Snag’s,CfOsman Estate for $41 Million” published on November 16, 2004, reporting on the bidding war between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein for the purchSkof a “43,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom estate on 6 oceanfront acres along ria’Raider’s Row’” in Palm Beach. tment: Billionaire Solicited 3 Times” published on July 25, 2006, reporting that illionaire money manager and Palm Beach part-time resident Jeffrey Epstein solicited or procured prostitutes three or more times between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31 of last year, according to an indictment charging him with felony solicitation of prostitution.” The article further reported that “Epstein’s case is unusual in that suspected prostitution johns are usually charged with a misdemeanor, and even a felony charge is typically made in a criminal information — an alternative to an indictment charging a person with the commission of a crime.”

• “After Long Probe, Billionaire Faces Solicitation Charge” published on July 26, 2006, reporting that “Palm Beach police thought there was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation.” The article further reported that “Police Chief Michael Reiter was so angry with State Attorney Barry Krischer’s handling of the case that he wrote a memo suggesting the county’s top prosecutor disqualify himself,” and identified a 20-year-old on-the-record female source who said “she gave Epstein a massage in the nude, then brought him six girls, ages 14 to 16, for massage and sex-tinged sessions at his home.”

• “Police Say Lawyer Tried to Discredit Teenage Girls” published on July 29, 2006, reporting that “[f]amed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz met with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and provided damaging information about teenage girls who say they gave his client, Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, sexually charged massages” and that “[t]he state attorney’s office said it presented the Epstein case to a county grand jury this month rather than directly charging Epstein because of concerns about the girls’ credibility.”

• “Expert: Ignorance of Age Isn’t Defense In Sex Cases” published on August 5, 2006, reporting that “[r]ather than file charges, the state attorney’s office presented the case to a county grand jury” which “indicted Epstein last week on a single, less serious charge of felony solicitation of prostitution,” and that “[t]he case raised eyebrows because the state attorney’s office rarely if ever, kicks such charges to a grand jury.”

• “Epstein Camp Calls Female Accusers Liars” published on August 8, 2006, reporting that “[a] state attorney’s spokesman would say only that the office refers cases to the grand jury when there are issues with the viability of the evidence or witnesses’ credibility.”

• “Palm Beach Chief Focus of Fire In Epstein Case” published on August 14, 2006, reporting that Chief Reiter “pressed for Epstein to be charged with the more serious crimes of sexual activity with minors” and “slammed State Attorney Barry Krischer in blunt language seldom used by one law enforcement official with another because of what he perceived as that office’s mishandling of the case.”

• “Delays In Epstein Case Unusual, Lawyers Say” published on March 13, 2007, reporting that “[n]early eight months after Palm Beach tycoon Jeffrey Epstein was charged with felony solicitation of prostitution, there has been no discernible progress in his case.”

• “Woman Sues Billionaire Investor, Says They Had Sex When She Was 16” published on October 18, 2007, reporting on a lawsuit brought in New York State court against Epstein “by a young woman who says he had sex with her when she was 16 and had sought his help becoming a model.”

• “Palm Beacher Pleads In Sex Case” published on July 1, 2008, reporting that “Epstein, 55, pleaded guilty … to felony solicitation of prostitution and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution,” resulting in “a lifelong obligation to register as a sex

offender,” and that “[a]s part of the plea deal, federal investigators agreed to drop their investigation of Epstein, which they had taken to a grand jury.”¶

• “Jeffrey Epstein: Scientist, Stuntman, ‘Sex Slave’ Visit Jailed Tycoon” published on August 13, 2008, reporting that “[d]uring his first month of confinement” Epstein was visited by [REDACTED], who allegedly escorted victims “upon their arrival at his Palm Beach waterfront home to an upstairs room, where she prepared the massage table and provided the oils for their encounters” with Epstein, and by [REDACTED], “a young woman whom Epstein purportedly described as his Yugoslavian sex slave.”

• “Billionaire Sex Offender Leaves Jail Six Days a Week For Work” published on July 1, 2008, reporting that Epstein “is allowed to leave the Palm Beach County Stockade six days a week on a work-release program.”

• “Women Want Epstein Sex Plea Deal Unsealed” published on June 10, 2009, reporting that attorneys for women suing Epstein in various courts “want his [non-prosecution] agreement [NPA] with federal prosecutors unsealed” and were moving to unseal the agreement in Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and that “Epstein now faces at least a dozen civil lawsuits in federal and state courts filed by young women who said they had sex with him and now are seeking damages.” On that date, The Palm Beach Post moved to intervene in the matter for the purpose of obtaining public access to the NPA, which was ordered disclosed by this Court on June 25, 2009.

• “Epstein’s Secret Pact With Feds Reveals ‘Highly Unusual’ Terms” published on September 19, 2009, reporting that, owing to Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement, “federal prosecutors backed down and agreed to recall grand jury subpoenas if Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution-related felonies in state court” and “also agreed not to charge any of Epstein’s possible co-conspirators: [REDACTED], [REDACTED], Lesley Groff and Nadia Marcinkova.” The article further reported that, according to an attorney representing three of Epstein’s victims, “none of the 30 to 40 wom[e]n identified as victims in the federal investigation” were informed ahead of time about the NPA.

• “Judge Rules Epstein Attorneys Can Subpoena Abortion Records” published on January 27, 2010, reporting that “a judge … gave lawyers representing multi-millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the right to subpoena abortion records from women who are seeking millions in damages from the part-time Palm Beach resident.”

• “Epstein Journal’s Findings Could Resurrect Abuse Case” published on March 20, 2010, reporting that “[a] purloined journal that is said to contain the names of ‘hundreds’ of victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could be used to reopen the investigation into the multi-millionaire’s appetite for teenage girls.”

• “Epstein Paid Three Women $5.5 Million to End Underage Sex Lawsuits” published on October 4, 2017, reporting that, according to court documents, Epstein “shelled out $5.5 million to settle lawsuits with three of more than two dozen teens who sued him.”

• “Judge Rules Feds’ Agreement With Jeffrey Epstein Pact Violated Teen Victims’ Rights” published on February 22, 2019, reporting on a ruling by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra that “Federal prosecutors violated the rights: of Jeffrey Epstein’s teenage victims [under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act] by failing to reveal they had dropped plans to prosecute the billionaire on dozens of federal charges in connection with the girls’ claims that he paid them for sex at his Palm Beach mansion.”

• “Epstein Indicted On Sex Charges/Part-Time Palm Beacher Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Trafficking, Conspiracy Charges In Federal Court In Manhattan” published on July 9, 2019, reporting on Epstein’s appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in which he “pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of g a vast network of girls as young as 14 that he exploited for his sexual plea, omes in Palm Beach and Manhattan.”

A true and correct copy of the above news articles, in either the compute are maintained in The Palm Beach Post’s electronic archives or the n originally published, is annexed hereto as Exhibit I Ct in which they nt edition in which¶

54. The press has a constitutional right of Access to criminal proceedings, see, e.g., Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 3S57 573 (1980), including pre-trial criminal \\ \4 proceedings. v. Graddick, 696 F.264 (itth Cir. 1983). Indeed, “the integrity of the i judicial process, which public scrufrirki”nupp \l osed to safeguard, is just as much at issue in proceedings of this kind [pre- and p3si teal] as at trial.” Id. at 801; see also Miami Herald Publ. Co. v. 1982) (identifying the news media as a “public surrogate” in matters concerning the c of judicial proceedings). The press also has a First Amendment interest in rece’ nformation from willing speakers. See Va. Pharmacy Bd. v. Va. Consumer Council 748, 756-57 (1976) (“Where a speaker exists … the protection afforded [by the r ndment] is to the communication, to its source and to its recipients both.”); Putman v.., 267 F.3d 1269, 1283 n.12 (11th Cir. 2001) (“The Supreme Court has recognized that the First Amendment offers protection to both speakers and those wishing to receive speech.”); see also Stephens v. Cty. of Albemarle, Va., 524 F.3d 485, 492 (4th Cir. 2008) (providing that a plaintiff has “standing to assert a right to receive speech” by “show[ing] that there exists a speaker willing to convey the information to her”).

55. Because of the unique role performed by the press as a “public surrogate” (=, 426 So. 2d at 6-7) in protecting the right of access and its interest in reporting information about criminal proceedings, news organizations “presumptively have a right to access judicial records,” Connn’r, Ala. Dep’t of Corr. v. Advance Local Media, LLC, 918 F.3d 1161, 1166 (11 2019), and “standing to question the validity of an order restricting publicity becaus lity to gather news is directly impaired or curtailed.” 426 So. 2d at 4; see als United States, 837 F.3d 753, 757-58 (7th Cir. 2016) (“[a]s a member of the public, ffheReporters Committee] has standing to assert [its] claim” to grand jury materials bec to which the public may seek access, even if that effort is,u1 aterials are “public records rely unsuccessful”).

56. Here, the continued denial of access to, nforrnation 77w Palm Reach Post seeks on behalf of its journalists and the public it s “un uestionably constitutes irreparable injury.” Gainesville Woman Care, LLC v. St to tda, 210 So. 3d 1243, 1263 (Fla 2017); see also Zerilli v. 656 F.2d 7057711 Cir. 1981) (noting that “the press’ function as a vital source of information is weaSediwhenever the ability of journalists to gather information is impaired,” as it ?is sb Atto e y eneral’s refusal to disclose un redacted report and underlying grand jury materials ( 4.4,1

E. The Cou ‘s Supervision of the Grand Jury Process and Its Authority to Order ublic Disclosure of the Epstein Evidence.¶

5 . The Florida Supreme Court has noted that “in states such as Florida, where the grand jury is preserved, it is an important appendage of the court which impanels it. At the same time it should not be forgotten that the judge of that court is equally important and he is generally charged with the supervision of the grand jury’s activities… It is, therefore, of vital importance to maintain the dignity and the integrity of both the grand jury and the presiding judge.” State v. Clemons, 150 So. 2d 231, 233-34 (Fla. 1963).¶

58. Chapter 905 of the Florida Statutes governs the empanelment and conduct of Florida grand juries. The court gives the grand jury its initial charge and advises the grand jury about its legal duties. Ha. Stat. § 905.18.

59. Florida Stat. Section 905.27(1) provides that “the testimony of a wit amined before the grand jury . or other evidence received by it” may be disclosed ” equired by a court … for the purpose of: (a) Ascertaining whether it is consistent w’ mony given by the witness before the court; (b) Determining whether the witness i 4 of perjury; or (c) Furthering justice.” Fla. Stat. § 905.27(IXa)-(c).

60. Further, disclosure is appropriate purs to WCourt’s inherent authority over grand jury proceedings because of the exceptio p is interest in this case and the compelling circumstances supporting transparency. Cas.. UrFlied States, 837 F.3d at 766 (“a district court has the inherent power to disclose J materials in exceptional circumstances and . . historic importance can be a su son when there is little countervailing need for secrecy”).

COUNT I¶

t illar (Florida Stat. Section 905.27)¶

61. on information learned by The Palm Beach Post through its Florida Public Record r l ett , ests, law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the grand jury evidence and pr ee ings, judicial documents obtained from independent but related court proceedings, and documents otherwise available in the public record, the State Attorney for Palm Beach County presented truncated evidence of Epstein’s criminal wrongdoing to the 2006 grand jury in a manner that precluded his indictment for the serious crimes he committed, including sex trafficking and sexual assault.

62. Pursuant to Florida Stat. Section 905.27, in order to further justice for Epstein’s victims and the public, and to provide public disclosure to illuminate whether Epstein received unreasonably lenient treatment based on the available evidence, The Paint Beach Post requests immediate public access to the testimony, minutes, and other evidence presented ’ to the Palm Beach County grand jury. In a case of this magnitude and importance, r e accused is dead and so many of his crimes, as well as the identities and crimes of hi irators, and the identities of the victims have already been exposed, the need for •rancrtiiilyi secrecy is no more. See United States v. Socony-Vactnim Oil Co., 310 U.S. 150 ) (“[A]fler the grand jury’s functions are ended, disclosure is wholly proper where of justice require it.”).

WHEREFORE, The Pahn Beach Post re spes t ly requests that this Court, pursuant to Fla. Stat. Section 905.270) and the Court’s inh’outh rity, order the State Attorney and the Clerk of the Court to file with this Court testimony, minutes, and other evidence presented in 2006 to the Palm Beach Co that, following an in camera in jury during the first Epstein sex abuse investigation so on, it can be made available to The Palm Beach Post and the public on an expedited b sis, and grant any other and further equitable or legal relief the Court deems just and¶

Dated: November M; 2O19¶

CG VateentitChieffo VINCENT H. CHTEFFO (Pro Bap Pipe application forthcoming) 184Q Century Park East, Suite 1900 Los Angeles CA 90067 Telephone: (3lo) 586 7700 Facsimile:. (310 586 7800 chieffov@gtlaw.com riveraal@gtlaw corn¶

+6s¶

ACTIVE 45678709v3¶

Respectfully submitted,¶

GREENBERG TRAURIG; Attorneys for CA Florida Ho/dings, LW, Pu6Ifsjier of The Palm Beach:Past¶

Stephen A. Mendelsohn, Esq. 5100 Town Center Circle, Suite 400 Boca Raton, Florida 33486 Teiephone: (561) 955-7629 Facsimile; (561) 338,7099¶

By: /s/ Stephen A. Mendelsohn STEPHEN A. MENDELSO Florida Bar No. 849324 utlaw.coldr .hasenh@gtlaw.corn FLService@gtlaw¶

‘By: 141C (Pra 54 ication forthcoming) Floor ew tOrk 12207 e: (518) 689-1400 smile: (518) 689-3499 m aw m¶

By: Is/ Nina D. Bovajian. NINA BOYAJIAN (Pro Hac Vice application forthcoming). 1.840 Century Park East, Suite 1900 Los Angeles CA 90067 Telephone- (310)586 7700 Facsitnile: (310.) 586 7800 boyajiannRgtlaw,com tiveraal(agtlaw com¶

EXHIBIT 1¶

The Newspaper’s Reportage on Jeffrey Epstein¶

CO SA”.’¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

The Man Who Had Everything: Jeffrey Epstein craved big homes, elite friends and underage girls¶

By Andrew Marra¶

Posted Jul’17, 2019 at 6:02 AM¶

From the archives: When Palm Beach detectives start —cih a questions and teenage girls started talking, a wave o esistance followed.¶

Editor’s Nate! nit article appeared in The Palm Beach Poston A 2006, three Weeks after Jeffrey Epstein ‘s. arrest in Palm Beach. County on .a charge of, tatipn of prostitution,¶

WINGED GARGOYLES guarded. the gate Attie ‘s Palm Beach mansion, :Inside, hidden cameras trolled two rooms, while th and went.¶

Forthe police detectives:whosifted thegarbage outside: and kept tetords cieViSitOrs, it was the lair of a troubling target.¶

Epstein, one of. the. most mys secrecy as for his love of e things:. magnificent homes, private jets, beautiful women, thecountry’rnega-riche was known as much for his friendships with th wot elite.¶

‘Butit Faith regular a faxo headquarters,.he was becerning known for something the. nage girls he hired to give him massages and, police say, perform. sexual¶

Epstein was afferent from most sexual abuse suspects; he was far more powerful. He counted among his friewit filthier President Bill Clinton,, Donald Trump and Princ-e Andrew; along with some of the most prominent legal, scientific and business minds in the country.¶

When detectives started asking questions and teenage girls started talking, a wave of legal. resistance followed.¶

» NEW: Jeffrey Epstein: Lawyer said financier had sex with woman during workrelease¶

If Palm Beach police didn’t know quite who Jeffrey Epstein was, they found out soon enough.¶

Epstein, now 53, was a quintessential man of mystery. He amassed his fortune and friends quietly, always in the background as he navigated New York high society.¶

When he first attracted notice in the early 1990s, it was on account of the woman he was dating: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert el¶

In a lengthy article, headlined “The Mystery of Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sec Mail on Sunday tabloid laid out speculative stories that the socialite math teacher, a concert pianist or a corporate headhunter. , e British a CIA spook, a¶

“But what is the truth about him?” the newspaper wondered. flamboyant and intensely private.” e’Maxwell, Epstein is both¶

The media frenzy did not begin in full until a decade later. In September 2002, Epstein was flung into the limelight when he flew Clinton/and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa on his private jet.¶

Suddenly everyone wanted to knowytho AM was. New York magazine and Vanity Fair published lengthy profiles. Th New York Post listed him as one of the city’s most eligible bachelors and began describing in its gossip columns with adjectives such as “mysterious” and “reclusive.”¶

Although Epstei Ag no interviews, the broad strokes of his past started to come into focus.¶

Building A life ofextravagance¶

He was brim blue-collar in 1953, the son of a New York City department employee, and raised in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood. He left college without a bachelor’s degree but became a math teacher at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan.¶

The story goes that the father of one of Epstein’s students was so impressed with the man that he put him in touch with a senior partner at Bear Stearns, the global investment bank and securities firm.¶

In 1976, Epstein left Dalton for a job at Bear Stearns. By the early 1980s, he had started J. Epstein and Co. That is when he began making his millions in earnest.¶

Little is known or said about Epstein’s business except this: He manages money for the extremely wealthy. He is said to handle accounts only of $1 billion or greater.¶

It has been estimated he has roughly 15 clients, but their identities are the subject of only speculation. All except for one: Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited retail chain and a former Palm Beacher who is said to have been a mentor to Epstein.¶

Wexner sold Epstein one of his most lavish residences: a massive townhouse block on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It is reported to have, among its circuit television and a heated sidewalk to melt away fallen snow. dominates a res, closed-¶

That townhouse, thought to be the largest private residencecVlanhattan, is only a piece of the extravagant world Epstein built over time.¶

In New Mexico, he constructed a 27,000-square-f i S t9 p mansion on a 10,000-acre ranch outside Santa Fe. Many believed it to be the la e in the state.¶

In Palm Beach, he bought a waterfront e o 1 Brillo Way. And he owns a 100-acre private island in the Virgin Islands.¶

» PHOTOS: The players in e Je y Epstein saga¶

Perhaps as remarkable a lavish homes is his extensive network of friends and associates at the highest echelo of po er. This includes not only socialites but also business tycoons, media moguls, h ans, royalty and Nobel Prize-winning scientists whose research he often funds.¶

Just U people collect art, he collects scientists,” said Nowak, who directs the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and was reportedly the recipient of a $30 million research donation from Epstein.¶

Epstein is said to have befriended former Harvard President Larry Summers, prominent law Professor Alan Dershowitz, Donald Trump and New York Daily News Publisher Mort Zuckerman.¶

And yet he managed for decades to maintain a low profile. He avoids eating out and was rarely photographed.¶

“The odd thing is I never met him,” said Dominick Dunne, the famous chronicler of the trials and tribulations of the very rich. “I wasn’t even aware of him,” except fora Vanity Fair article.¶

Epstein’s friendship with Clinton has attracted the most attention.¶

Epstein met Clinton as early as 1995, when he paid tens of thousands of dollars to join him at an intimate fund-raising dinner in Palm Beach. But from all appearances, they did not become close friends until after Clinton left the Oval Office and moved to New York,¶

Epstein has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates’ napalgns; including John Kerry’s presidential bid, the reelection campaign of New Mexico Go ail/Richardson and the Senate bids of Joe , Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chri Dodd and Charles Schumer.¶

Powerful friends and enemies¶

A Vanity Fair profile found cracks in the venCr S{sup}oEpstein’s life story. The 2003 article said he left Bear Stearns in the wake of a federal probe and a possible Securities and Exchange Commission violation. It also pointed out that Citibank once sued him for defaulting on a S20 million loan.¶

The article suggested that one of h usiness mentors and previous employers was Steven Hoffenberg, now serving n term after “bilking investors out of more than $450 million in one of the largesePonzi heroes in American history.”¶

As he amasseaTihrealth, Epstein made enemies in disputes both large and small. He sued the man who in 19901sold him his multimillion-dollar Palm Beach home over a dispute about less than S16,000 in furnishings.¶

A former friend claimed Epstein backed out of a promise to reimburse him hundreds of thousands of dollars after their failed investment in Texas oil wells. A judge decided Epstein owed him nothing.¶

» Jeffrey Epstein: Model prisoner who swept, mopped floors, official says¶

“It’s a bad memory. I would rather not have ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” said Michael Stroll, the retired former president of Electronics and Sega Corp. “Sufficeiit to say I have nothing good to say about him.”¶

Among the characteristics most attributed to Epstein is a penchant for women.¶

He has been linked to Maxwell, a fixture on the high-society party circuits in both New York and London. Previous girlfriends are said to include a former Ms. Sweden and a Romanian model.¶

“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Donald Trump told New York magazine in 2 that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” is even said ger side. No¶

Investigation leads to Epstein¶

Although he was not a frequenter of the Palm Beach s Among his charitable donations, he gave 590,000 5, S , $100,000 to Ballet Florida. he made his presence felt. Beach Police Department and¶

In Palm Beach, he lived in luxury. ThreybKck rcede s sat in his garage, alongside a Harley-Davidson. His jet waited at anNat Palm Beach International Airport. At home, a private chef and a small staff e ady. From a window in his mansion, he could look out on the Intracoastal Watery the West Palm Beach skyline. He seemed to be a man who had everything.¶

But extraordina th c n fuel extraordinary desires.¶

» Epstein to leave jail for mansion in sex-trafficking case¶

In Marc , a worried mother contacted Palm Beach police. She said another parent had overheard a conversation between their children.¶

Now the mother was afraid her 14-year-old daughter had been molested by a man on the island. The phone call triggered an extensive investigation, one that would lead detectives to Epstein but leave them frustrated.¶

Palm Beach police and the state attorney’s office have declined to discuss the case. But a Palm Beach police report detailing the criminal probe offers a window into what detectives faced as they sought to close in on Epstein.¶

Detectives interviewed the girl, who told them a friend had invited her to a rich man’s house to perform a massage. She said the friend told her to say she was 18 if asked: At the house, she said she was paid $300 after stripping to her panties and massaging the man while he masturbated.¶

Police interview 5 alleged victims¶

The investigation began in full after the girl identified Epstein in a ph t man who had paid her. Police arranged for garbage trucks to set aside Epstein’s tr h so po ice could sift through it. They set up a video camera to record the comings a at his home. They monitored an airport hangar for signs of his private jet’s a s a departures.¶

They quickly learned that the woman who took the 1.4yea olds girl to Epstein’s house was a Palm Beach Community College student from Loxahatchee. In a sworn statement at police headquarters, M, then 18, admitted she had taken at least six girls to visit Epstein, all between the ages of 14 and 16. El. paid her for each visit, she said.¶

During the drive back to her hou told detectives, “I’m like a Heidi Fleiss.”¶

Police interviewed five allege and 17 witnesses. Their report shows some of the girls said they had been instructed to ave sex with another woman in front of Epstein, and one said she had direct intercourse t h him.¶

In October, pplice searched the Palm Beach mansion. They discovered photos of naked, younglooking females, just as several of the girls had described in interviews. Hidden cameras were _ _ found irtztliAgarage area and inside a clock on Epstein’s desk, alongside a girl’s high school transcript,¶

Two of Epstein’s former employees told investigators that young-looking girls showed up to perform massages two or three times a day when Epstein was in town.¶

They said the girls were permitted many indulgences. A chef cooked for them. Workers gave them rides and handed out hundreds of dollars at a time.¶

One employee told detectives he was told to send a dozen roses to one teenage girl after a high school drama performance. Others were given rental cars. One, according to police, received a $200 Christmas bonus.¶

The cops moved to cement their case. But as they tried to tighten the noose, they encountered other forces at work.¶

In Orlando they interviewed a possible victim who told them nothing inappropriate had happened between her and Epstein. They asked her whether she had spoken to ask else. She said yes, a private investigator had asked her the same questions.¶

» Jeffrey Epstein: Acosta, Krischer trade barbs over sweetheart¶

When they subpoenaed one of Epstein’s former employees, he told tlm he same thing. He and a private eye had met at a restaurant days earlier to go over what the man would tell investigators.¶

Detectives received complaints that private eyes w e \IF’ gas police officers. When they told Epstein’s local attorney, Guy Fronstin, he said h n tigators worked for Roy Black, the high-powered Miami lawyer who has defecl the es of Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy¶

While the private eyes were conduaing a parallel investigation, Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor, traveled to West Palm Beach with information about the girls. From their own profiles on the popular eb site MySpace.com, he obtained copies of their discussions about their use of alcohol and na.¶

He took his researches a meeting with prosecutors in early 2006, where he sought to cast doubt on een reliability.¶

The pn e eyes had dug up enough dirt on the girls to make prosecutors skeptical. Not only did some of the girls have issues with drugs or alcohol but also some had criminal records and other troubles, Epstein’s legal team claimed. And at least one of them, they said, lied when she told police she was younger than 18 when she started performing massages for Epstein.¶

After the meeting, prosecutors postponed their decision to take the case to a grand jury.¶

I In the following weeks, police received complaints that two of the victims or their families had been harassed or threatened. Epstein’s legal team maintains that its private investigators did nothing illegal or unethical during their research.¶

By then, relations between police and prosecutors were fraying. At a key meeting with prosecutors and the defense, Detective Recarey, the lead investigator, was a no-show, according to Epstein’s attorney.¶

“The embarrassment on the prosecutor’s face was evident when the police officer e er showed up for the meeting,” attorney Jack Goldberger said.¶

Later in April, Recarey walked into a prosecutor’s office at the state alto ey’s i ce and learned the case was taking an unexpected turn.¶

t/ The prosecutor, Lanna Belohlavek, told Recarey the state art ne office had offered Epstein a plea deal that would not require him to serve jail time grtcce felony conviction.¶

Recarey told her he disapproved of the plea offer.¶

The deal never came to pass, however. ?S Ҧ

Future unclear after charge¶

On May 1, the department asked pro to approve warrants to arrest Epstein on four ii counts of unlawful sexual activity_# a minor and to charge his personal assistant, now 27, for her alleged role in arranging the visits. Police officials also wanted to -Tr charge M, di ( c lf-d is, cribed Heidi Fleiss, with lewd and lascivious acts.¶

By then, the case. On m t was frustrated with the way the state attorney’s office had handled the ay the warrants were requested, Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrote o State Attorney Barry Krischer suggesting he disqualify himself from the case if he would not act.¶

Two weeks later, Recarey was told that prosecutors had decided once again to take the case to the grand jury.¶

“They are incapable of being believed,” he said. “They ha ecords. They had accusations of theft made against them by their emplo \ rs. was evidence of drug use by some of them.”¶

It is not known how many of the girls testified before the grand jury. But Epstein’s defense team said one girl who was subpoenaed - the one who said she had sexual intercourse with Epstein - never showed up.¶

The grand jury’s indictment was handed down in July. It was not the one the police department had wanted.¶

Instead of being slapped with a charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, Epstein was charged with one count of felony solicitation of prostitution, which carries a max penalty of five years in prison. He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail early J released hours later.¶

Epstein’s legal team “doesn’t dispute that he had girls over for massa es,” he said their claims that they had sexual encounters with him la cre ‘bit ty. erger said. But¶

What remains for Epstein is yet to be seen .ec 4 ’¶

The Palm Beach Police Department ‘the FBI to investigate the case. It also has returned the $90,000 Epstein do 4.¶

In New York, candidates for g and state attorney general have vowed to return a total of at least $60,000 in ca contributions from Epstein. Meanwhile, Epstein’s powerful friends have remained silent as tabloids and Internet blogs feast on the public details of the police investigation.¶

Goldbergerc..aintains Epstein’s innocence but says the legal team has not ruled out a future plea dea Fliinsists Epstein will emerge in the end with his reputation untarnished.¶

“He will recover from this,” he said.¶

Staff writer Larry and staff researchers Bridget Bulger, Angelica Cortez, Amy Hanaway and Melanie Mena contributed to this story.¶

amarra@pbpost.com¶

@AMarraPBPost¶

<N)¶

273 / 278 - Tuesday, November 16, 2004¶

Section: A SECTION¶

Page: 1A¶

Source: By PAUL OWERS Palm Beach Post Staff Writer¶

Illustration: PHOTO (C & 2 B&W) & MAP (B&W)¶

Memo: Ran all editions.¶

Dateline: WEST PALM BEACH¶

TRUMP SNAGS GOSMAN ESTATE FOR $41 MILLION¶

When it came time to bid Monday for the palatial Palm Beach digs of Abe Gosman, The Donald was not about to be trumped.¶

“Nobody was going to outbid me,” the brash developer-turned-TV-personality said from his New York office.¶

Trump bested two other bidders with a $41.35 million offer for the 43,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom estate on 6 oceanfront acres along the storied “Raider’s Row.”¶

But Trump, 58, proud possessor of Mar-a-Lago, has no plans to live in the Gosman home at 513 N. County Road. He wants to - what else? - sell it and make more money.¶

The star of the mega-hit The Apprentice said he intends to redevelop the site into a “super luxury house” that would be the “finest anywhere in the United States.” He might build another house before flipping the entire package.¶

“I’ve known about this house for quite some time,” Trump said. “It’s probably the best piece of land in Florida - and probably the country - for luxury real estate.”¶

Although Trump said he could subdivide the property into nine lots, Palm Beach Mayor¶

Lesly [REDACTED] said zoning regulations allow for only two houses - and maybe a third. [REDACTED] said she’s not worried about Trump’s plans.¶

“He’s been a very good property owner in the town of Palm Beach,” she said. “He does his projects very well. He’s a perfectionist.”¶

Monday’s auction took place at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach as part of Gosman’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Proceeds from the sale will go into escrow for eventual distribution to creditors.¶

The auction began at exactly noon after Judge Steven [REDACTED] dismissed an objection from an attorney representing money manager Jeffrey Epstein. The lawyer argued unsuccessfully that Trump was not a qualified bidder because his contract stipulated that he would not close on the sale unless title insurance was in place beforehand.¶

With Trump listening via conference call, Epstein began the bidding at $37.25 million - $250,000 higher than Trump’s initial offer.¶

Mark Pulte, son of the founder of home-building giant Pulte Homes, passed when his turn came, letting lawyers for Trump and Epstein bid against each other until the price hit $38.85 million.¶

Pulte then bid $39.1 million, briefly raising the ire of Trump, who believed that Pulte had given up his right to bid by passing the first time.¶

But [REDACTED] allowed the offer to stand, and Pulte and Trump went back and forth until Pulte dropped out at $41.1 million. Epstein, a part-time Palm Beach resident, bowed out at $38.6 million.¶

[REDACTED] closed the bidding 10 minutes after it started, leaving Trump with the right to buy the 29,000-square-foot home (a typical Palm Beach County single-family house is about 2,200 square feet). The property also has a tennis house, a pool house and 1930s-era service quarters.¶

The closing could take place within a week but probably won’t happen until next month. Trustee Joe Luzinski and creditors said they were pleased with the outcome.¶

“We knew we were dealing with some substantial people … who were going to bid it up a bit,” Luzinski said.¶

“The system worked,” said Charles Tatelbaum, a lawyer for creditor JPMorgan Chase Bank.¶

“In bankruptcy court, the idea is to get the most for creditors, and that’s what happened.”¶

The auction proved to be a bonanza for creditors, Luzinski said, noting that the highest offer former listing agent Sotheby’s International Realty received was $32 million. Sotheby’s won’t receive a commission, he said.¶

Pulte, 42, of Boca Raton, said he figured Trump wouldn’t back down Monday.¶

“I got the feeling he was willing to go a lot higher, and I didn’t want to chase it,” Pulte said.¶

Pulte said Gosman asked him before the auction whether he would be willing to let him stay in the mansion after the closing until he decides where he wants to move. Trump and Luzinski said they have had no such discussions with Gosman.¶

Gosman, 75, had the house built after paying $12.1 million for the land in 1986.¶

The former health-care magnate declined interview requests before and after the auction Monday. He was at the courthouse but left before the auction took place.¶

The $41.35 million price tag eclipses the $30.35 million sale of Lowell “Bud” Paxson’s Palm Beach home and guest house but falls short of the $45 million that Virginia home builder Dwight Schar paid for Ron Perelman’s 26,000-square-foot estate, Casa Apava, a designated landmark.¶

Schar also paid $18.6 million for a lakefront lot across the street from the main house, for a total of $63.6 million. Insiders say Schar spent a total of $70 million for his new property, making it the priciest residential sale in U.S. history.¶

Gosman once had a fortune that Forbes magazine estimated at $480 million. He voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001, listing assets of $250 million and liabilities of $233.6 million.¶

When a judge ruled that Gosman had to give up all of his exempt assets to creditors if he wanted to reorganize under Chapter 11, Gosman converted the case to Chapter 7 liquidation. Last year, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Larry Lessen ruled that Abe and Lin Gosman’s marriage is invalid because Florida law does not recognize a Dominican Republic divorce that Lin Gosman tried to obtain from another man, Michael Castre.¶

The judge’s decision was a huge victory for creditors because it prevents Abe Gosman from protecting assets by claiming joint ownership with his wife. Gosman’s assets, which include an extensive collection of artwork, could total as much as $70 million and will be sold later. Without Lessen’s ruling, Luzinski would have had a much harder time selling Gosman’s estate, said David Cimo, special counsel for the trustee.¶

“We would have been thwarted … or at least substantially impaired,” Cimo said.¶

The trustee alleged during a weeklong trial in May that Gosman fraudulently gave his wife an ownership interest in his home and other belongings only to avoid loS,ing them in bankruptcy. Gosman has denied any wrongdoing, saying he made the property transfers in 1999, well before he filed for bankruptcy.¶

Lessen is expected to rule in the next two months whether Gosman made improper transfers, a decision that will affect how much money will be available to creditors.¶

Cimo acknowledged that Monday wasn’t the best of days for the Gosmans but said they were willing to move forward, in part because the upkeep of the estate now exceeds their means.¶

“This is not a happy occasion for them, but at least we’re moving to the next level,” Cimo said. “That’s not a house you want to live in unless you’re making large amounts kf nioney like Donald Trump.”¶

paul_owers@pbpost com¶

C C)¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Indictment: Billionaire Solicited 3 Times¶

Posted Jul 1,:2008 at 12:01AM¶

Updated Oct 2, 2019 at 2:30 PM¶

(EDITORSNOTE: Thit Story originally published inlittPalm Beath Post on July 25, 2006)¶

Billionaire money manager and Palm Beach part-time resident leffre solicited or procured prostitutes three•or more times•between Au ct. 31 of last year,.accordititto an indictment diargirig him with .fe don.of prostitution.¶

Epstein, 53; was booked at the Palm. Beach County a.m. Sunday. He was.released on $3,000•bond.¶

Epstein ‘S case is wog* in that suspect r ituttori IQh0S•are usually charged • with a misdemeanor, and even a leo is typically made in a criminal information - an alternative to . catdi …pi• tit charging a.person.with the: commission of a crime.¶

t - His attorney, Jack Gold erger lined to discuss the charge.¶

State, attorney’s o s okesinan Mike.Edmondson also had little to say:¶

“Generall Baking, there is a case that has a number of different aspects. to it;” Edm ta of a prostitution-related charge being submitted to a grandiury.. came aware of the case months agoby Falrii Beach police?¶

P1 ecutors and police worked together to bring the case to the grand jury; he said.¶

Palm Beach police confirmed that and said the department will release a report today regarding its investigation.¶

Epstein has owned a five-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath, 7,234-square-foot ho th a pool and a boat dock on the Intracoastal Waterway since 1990, ac property records. A man answering the door there Monday s k ittth.r oi , Lein wasn’t home. A Cadillac Escalade registered to him was park e ‘n e driveway, which is flanked by two massive gargoyles.¶

Epstein sued Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits assessment of his home exceeded its fair ma in December 2002. mending that the e dismissed his lawsuit¶

A profile of Epstein in Vanity Fa’ agaiine said he owns what are believed to be the largest private homes” l hattan - 51,000 square feet - and in New Mexico - a 7,500-acre ranch. ho7 are in addition to his 70-acre island in the /---’ U.S. Virgin Islands andftleet o aircraft.¶

Epstein’s friends businessme~n; acadegnics and scientists and famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowftz. dmirers, according to the magazine, include prominent¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

After long probe, billionaire faces solicitation charge¶

Posted Jul 27, 2006 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 3:11 PM¶

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published. in The Palm Beath Post on 2006)¶

Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein paid to have underage gi ung women brought-to his home, where be received roassAges Imes sex, according town investigation by the Palm Beach.Pplice4 t.¶

Palm Beath police spent months sifting through s and watching his waterfront home and Palm Beach. Internatio to keep tabs en his private jet. An indictment charging Epst: , unsealed Monday, charging him with one count offelony’solicirax6it stitution.¶

Palm Beach polite thoughtdie ’ able cause to charge. Epstein with unlawful sex acts with.a to and lascivious inoleStatiOn.¶

Polite Chief Michael R so angry with State Attorney. Barry Krisclier’S handling.of the that he wrote a memo suggesting the county’s top prosecutor disqu¶

• to examine the, unusual course that your office’s handling °Nils m has en’ nd consider if good,anct sufficient reason exists-to require’your cation .from theprosetution of these cases, Reiter wrote in.a May 1 Ott: KfiScher.¶

While not commenting specifically on the. Epstein case, Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state attorney, said his office presents cases other than murders to a grand jury when there are questions about witnesses’ credibility and their ability to testify,¶

By the nature of their jobs, police officers look at evidence from a: one-sided perspective,” Edmondson said. “A prosecutor has to look at it in a much broader fashion,” weighing the veracity of witnesses and how they may fate under defense attorneys’ questioning, he said.¶

Epstein’s attorney, Jack Goldberger, said his client committed no crimes.¶

“The reports and statements in question refer to false accusations that were not charged because the Palm Beach County state attorney questioned the credibility of the witnesses,” Goldberger said. A county grand jury “found the allegati s wholly unsubstantiated and not credible,” and that’s why his client wa charged with sexual activity with minors, he said.¶

, - Goldberger said Epstein passed a lie detector test administered by a reputable polygraph examiner in which he said he did not know the girls Nude minors. Also, a search warrant served on Epstein’s home found no evidence to corroborate the girls’ allegations, Goldberger said.¶

According to police documents: /7( \7¶

• A Palm Beach Community Collegeetudent aid she gave Epstein a massage in the nude, then brought him six girls, ages14 to 16, for massage and sex-tinged sessions at his home.

• A 27-year-old woman’.who worked as Epstein’s personal assistant also facilitated the liaisons, phoning the PBCC student to arrange for girls when Epstein was comingto town. And she escorted the girls upstairs when they arrived, it ng fresh sheets on a massage table and placing massage oils nearby.

• Poli, e took sworn statements from five alleged victims and 17 witnesses. They conieq tWat on three occasions, Epstein had sex with the girls.

A Money manager for the ultra-rich, Epstein was named one of New York’s most eligible bachelors in 2003 by The New York Post. He reportedly hobnobs with the likes of former President Clinton, former Harvard University President¶

Summers and Donald Trump, and has lavish homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.¶

He has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic Paijty candidates and organizations, including Sen. John Kerry’s presidential bid, and the Senate campaigns of Joe Hilary Clinton, Dodd and Charles Schumer.¶

Goldberger is one of five attorneys Epstein liar s>sietained since he became the subject of an investigation, Edmondson said. Atnong the others: Alan 4/ \, Dershowitz, the well-known Harvard lavgprofessor and author, who is a friend {sup}4 of Epstein. Dershowitz could,nothrretched for comment. / —\,¶

7¶

Police said the woman who enlisted young girls for Epstein was 20, of Palm Beach., has worked at an Olive Garden restaurant in Wellington and s e was a journalism major at Palm Beach Community College wh &she questioned by police last October. She has an unlisted phone nu b a A ts, nd could not be reached for comment.¶

she met Epstein when, at age 17, a friend asked her if she would like money giving him a massage. She said she was driven to his fivebedroom, 7 1/2-bath home on the Intracoastal Waterway, then escorted upstairs to a bedroom with a massage table and oils. Epstein and were both naked during the massage, she said, but when he grabbed her buttocks, she said she didn’t want to be touched.¶

Epstein said he’d pay her to bring him more girls - the younger the better, told police. When she tried once to bring a 23-year-old woman to him, Epstein said she was too old, said.¶

M , who has not been charged in the case, said she eventually brought six girls to Epstein who were paid $200 each time, said. “I’m like a Heidi Fleiss,” police quoted her as saying. The girls knew what to expect when they were taken to Epstein’s home, said. Give a massage - maybe naked - and allow some touching.¶

One 14-year-old girl took to meet Epstein led police to start them, investigation of him in March 2005. A relative of the girl called to sayshe;:., thought the child had recently engaged in sex with a Palm Beach Man. The girl then got into a fight with a classmate who accused her of beitostitute, and she couldnt explain why she had $300 in her purse.¶

The girl gave police this account of her meeting c s in:¶

She accompanied and a second girlas ‘n’s house on a Sunday in February 2005. Once there, a woman she thought was Epstein’s assistant told the girl to follow her upstairs to a room featuring a mural of a naked woman, several photographs of naked women on ashelf, a hot pink and sofa and a massage table.¶

She stripped to her bra nties and gave him a massage.¶

Epstein gave the 14,year-old $300 and she and the other girls left, she said. She said told her that Epstein paid her $200 that day.¶

Other girls told similar stories. In most accounts, Epstein’s personal assistant at the time, Sarah now 27, escorted the girls to Epstein’s bedroom.¶

Kellen, whose most recent known address is in North Carolina, has not been charged in the case.¶

Palm Beach police often conducted surveillance of Epstein’s home, and at Palm Beach International Airport to see if his private jet was there, so they would know when he was in town. Police also arranged repeatedly to receive his trash from Palm Beach sanitation workers, collecting papers with names and phone numbers, sex toys and female hygiene products.¶

One note stated that a female could not come over at 7 p.m. becauise of soccer. Another said a girl had to work Sunday - “Monday after school?” And still another note contained the work hours of a girl, saying she leaves school at 11:30 a.m. and would come over the next day at 10:30 a.m.¶

Only three months before the police department probe began, Epstein donated $90,000 to the department for the purchase of a firearms simulator, said Jaffe Struder, town finance director. The purchase was never made. The m5 S was ,¶

returned to Epstein on Monday, she said. C¶

Palm Beach Daily News¶

Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls¶

PostedJul 29, 2006 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3,2019 at 2:00 PM¶

(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally was published in The Palm Beath POsj n uly 29, 2000¶

Famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz met with the P. County State Attorney’s Office and provided damaging information out. nage girls who say they gave his client, Palm Beach billionaire ps t sexually charged,massages, according to police reports.¶

The reports also state that another Epstein a would have allowed Epstein to have no c denies this happened. ed to a plea bargain that ord. His current attorney¶

And the documents also reveal private investigators asgre chased off visitors, er of at least one girl complained that wed his car, photographed his home arid¶

Police alsotalked seine .ody who said she was offered monerif she refused to cooperate with th Beach PoliceDepartment probe of Epstein.¶

The st y’s office said it presented the .Epstein case to a county grand nth’ rather than directly charging .Epstein because of concerns about The grand jury indicted Epstein; 53; en a single.couritor y solicitation of prbstittitiorilwhieli carries. a inatiiiiinn penalty of five years Id prison.¶

Police believed there was probable cause to charge Epstein with. the more serious crimes of unlawful se, acts with a thirlot and lewd and lasciviotisincileStation. Police•ChielMiahael Reiter was so angry that he wrote State Attorney Barry Krischer a memoir; May suggesting he disqualify himself from.the case.¶

The case originally was going to be presented to the grand jury in !February, but was postponed after Dershowitz produced information gleaned fro I m the Web site myspace.com showing some of the alleged victims commenting on alcohol and marijuana use, according to the police report prepared by DeteI ttive Recarey.¶

a 20-year-old Palm Beach woman who told police she recruited girls for Epstein, also is profiled on myspace.com. Her page includes photos of her and her friends, including one using the name “Pimpin’ Made , who was not charged in the case, is a potential prosecution witn¶

According to Recarey, prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek offered Epstei, eys Dershowitz and Guy Fronstin a plea deal in April. Fronstin, after apellc y g with Epstein, accepted the deal, in which Epstein would plead guil to o e count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, be p on ve years’ probation and have no criminal record. The deal also c ed r Epstein to submit to a psychiatric and sexual evaluation and have no untupe ised 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 Goldherger was hired. He denies there was any agreement by any of Epstein’s attorneys to a plea deal.¶

“We absolutely did not agreeto a plea in this case,” he said. Neither Belohlavek nor a state attorn spokesman could be reached for comment.¶

The pare parents of alleged victims who complained of being harassed by priva c st1 ators provided license tag numbers of two of the men. Police fo hicks were registered to a private eye in West Palm Beach and 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. Phpne i 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 1, “He’s never denied girls came to the house: Goldberger said. But L\ was given a polygraph test, “he passed on knowledge of age,” the attiordey said. After the indictment against Epstein was unsealed this week 1Po ice Chief Reiter ) referred the matter to the FBI. “We’ve received thesefettal, and we’re reviewing it,” said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miam The chief himself has come under attack o tpstein’s lawyers and friends in New York, where he has a home. Th ew o Post quoted Epstein’s home, but whether he knew their ages. prominent New York lawyer, Ge Le un, as saying his client was indicted only “because of the craziness”o6 ce chief.” Reiter has declined to commencon 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* 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¶

Defense attorney Robert Gershman was a prosecutor for six years[ “Those girls must have been incredible or untrustworthy, I don’t know,” he sail¶

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 suc \ly defended William Kennedy on a rape charge in Palm Beach involved at one point.¶

Said defense attorney ) Suskauer: “I think it’s unfortun the public may get the perception that with power, you may be treat ently than the average Joe.”¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Expert: Ignorance of age isn’t defense in sex cases¶

Posted Aug 5,.2006at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 1:38 PM¶

PalmBeach Post on Aug. 5, 2006).¶

Even if Palm Beach moneymanager Jeffrey Epstein di know that girls who police’ ay gave him sexual his Intracoastal home were under the legal age, th wouldn’t have exempted him from criminal es sexual activity with m inors. A¶

“Ignorance is not a valid defense,” t ekle, a legal skills profestormehts was a Lek ttitOt for nearly 30 years, half of that time laser crimes against children.¶

“There is no kn concerned,” *. amen as far 0.5111 age is¶

After a l.-month investigation, Palm Beach police said th few bable cause to charge Epstein, 931with whilsex acts with a minor and lewd andlascivious ol stationy They contend that Epstein -*friend oftho rich d famous and financial patron, of Denthcratit Party organizations and candidates - committed those acts with • fiveunderage¶

+a¶

in’the past week, New York Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate. Eliot Spitzer has retutned about 550,000 in. campaign contributions he received from. Epstein,.aS Mark =I, a candidate to replace Spitzer in his current job, has returned $10,000 to him because of the Palm Beach scandal, the New York Daily News has reported.¶

Rather than file charges, the state attorney’s office presented the case to a county grand jury. The panel indicted Epstein last week on a single, less serious charge of felony solicitation of prostitution.¶

The case raised eyebrows because the state attorney’s office rarely, if ever, kicks such charges to a grand jury. And it increases the difficulty of prosecuting child sex abuse cases,S especially when the defendant is enormously wealthy aryl can hire high-priced, top-tier lawyers.¶

At least one of Epstein’s alleged victims told police kdew she was underage when the two of them got naked for massages and sexual activity. She was iiy,ears old at the time and said Epstein asked her questions\about her high / school, according to police reports.¶

:,, . A girl who said she met Epstem when she was 15 said he told her if she told anybody what happened at his house, bad things could,kappen;the police reports state.¶

Epstein’s yotiGgext,alleged victim was 14 when she says she gave him a massage that included some sexual activity. She is now i6. The girl’s father says he doesn’t know whether aim told Epstein her age.¶

y daughter has kept a lot of what happened from me because of sheer embarrassment,” he said. “But she very much looked 14. Any prudent man would have had second thoughts about that.”¶

Defense attorney Jack Goldberger maintains that not only did Epstein pass a polygraph test showing he did not know the girls were minors, but their stories weren’t credible. The state attorney’s office also implied that their credibility was an issue when it decided not to charge Epstein directly, but instead give the case to the grand jury.¶

“AproSeciitot has to look at it in a much broader fashiok” state attorneys spokesman said last week.¶

Epstein hired Harvard law Professor Alan tz when he becartie aware he ‘wit under i t n, and Dershowitz gave prosecutors info o tsome of the alleged victims had spoke arts h and marijuana on s, a popular Web site, accord”c- .‘t ” • . .BeaCh police report.¶

Prosecutors typif, , o er two things in deciding whether to c body with sex-related offenses against mino ether there is:s:ufficientevidente and wheth re it a public. ihterestin doing so, Delde Said.¶

o tefns are in a sexual relationehip and the boy turns btore’thegirl, he could be charged with a sex crimeif 8e se.x continues.Ti here would be hb public.interest in 0 k¶

But where there in large gap in ages - and especially in cases of teachers with students - there is a public interest in prosecuting, he. said. Likewise if the accused has a track. record of sex with minors.¶

Still there is a “universal constant” in prosecuting these: cases, Dekle said. Men who exploit underage children for sex often carefully choose their victims in ways that will minimize the risk to them, he said.¶

Victims usually are from a lower social status, and suffer from psychological problems, Dekle said.¶

“Lots of child sexual abuse victims have been victimized by multiple people over a period of time. Then the act of abuse produces behavior in the victims that further damages their credibility.” Examples include promiscuous behavior and drug abuse.¶

Some of the alleged victims in the Epstein case re ttrued his home multiple times for the massage sessions and the {sup}7 —z` $200 to $300 he typically paid them per visittN”That would be a definite problem for the prosecutor” said Betty Resch, . \ ; 4’ who prosecuted crimes against child4kin Palm Beach . 4 . County for five years and now As m-pvat n , e practice in Lake Worth. \¶

“The victim become pathetic” to a jury, Resch said. “But she’s a via’ eless. She’s a kid.”¶

Most men chtirgedilwith sex crimes against minors look normaligtkle said. A jury expecting to see a monster seldom 1. And the victims’ ages work against them and in (favor of the defendant in a trial, Dekle said.¶

if a child and an adult tell different stories and both swear they’re telling the truth, adult jurors are more likely to believe the adult, Dekle said.¶

“You have all these things working against you in a child sex abuse case. Prosecutors normally try to be very careful in filing those cases because they know what they’re getting into. There is no such thing as an iron-clad child sexual abuse case.”¶

The Palm Beach Po. §t REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Epstein camp calls female accusers liars¶

Posted Aug 8, 2006at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3;2019 at 3:35 PM¶

Palm_Beath Post on Aug. 8, 2006)¶

Attorneys and.potiacists for Palm Bead) financier jeffre Epstein went on the.offensive Monday, contending teenage girls who have accused Epstein of sexual Shenanigans at his waterfront home are liars say that the:Palm .Beach.Pttlice Department¶

‘There never was any sex betwee .and any underage women: his lead Alt a Goldbergerisaid from Idaho where he was with his family.¶

Epstein did have yo come to his house to give him massages, Goaer said.. 14r, Epstein, absolutely insisted anybpdy wh atne to his house be over the age of 18. Howhe aitythi occur. The law was not violated herein that, I don’t know. The question is, did¶

c. bald no explanation as to why Epstein.woUld pay girls or o- en with no massage training - as the alleged victims Id was the case - $2oa to $300 for their visits. “The. credibility of these witnesses has been. seriously questioned,” Goldberger said.¶

a¶

Epstein, 53, was indicted by a county grand jury last month a charge of felony solicitation of prostitution. After an 11-month investigation_ that included lifting through Epstein’s. trash and surveilling his home, Palm Beach police concluded there was enough evidence to charge him with sexual activity with minors. When the grand jury indicted.¶

Epstein on the less serious charge, Police Chief Michael Reiter referred the case to the FBI to determine whether there were federal law violations.¶

After a spate of stories about the case last week, New )(ink publicist Dan Klores - whose client list has included Paris Hilton and Jennifer - said on Saturday that Epstein’s camp was ready “to get their story out.”¶

They did that Monday via Goldberger and a Los Angeles publicist for Miami criminal defense attorney Roy Black, who also has represented Epstein in the case.¶

“We just think there has been a distorted view of this in the media presented by the Palm Beach police,” Goldberger said.¶

Reiter has consistently declined to comMent on the case and did not respond to a request for CAMmepi Monday.¶

The implication that State Attorney Barry Krischer was easy on Epstein by presenting the case to a grand jury rather than filing charges directly against him is wrong, Goldberger said.¶

The Palm Beach Police Department was “happy and ecstatic” that the panel was going to review the evidence. “I think what happened is they weren’t happy with the result. They decided to use the press to embarrass Mr. Epstein’.”¶

But records show that Reiter wrote Krischer on May 1; well before the case went to the grand jury - suggesting that Krischer “consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases.”¶

Rather than flat-out decline to charge Epstein, Krischer S y referred the case to the grand jury to “appease” the chief O— Goldberger said.¶

A state attorney’s spokesman would say only that th ffce refers cases to the grand jury when there a ssu with the viability of the evidence or witnesses’¶

Both the state attorney and the gland jui concluded there was not sufficient evidence \ hat stein had sex with minors, according to Goldbe er. It was just a childish performance by the P r ch Police Department,” Goldberger said¶

The defense y said one of the alleged victims who claime e was a minor was in fact over the age of 18. Actothe ged victim who was subpoenaed to testify to rand jury failed to do so. Epstein’s accusers, he added, O a v istories of drug abuse and thefts. “These women are ars. We’ve established that.”¶

But why would they all invent their stories about meeting Epstein for sexual massages?¶

“I don’t have an answer as to what was the motivation for these women to come forward and make these allegations,” Goldberger said.¶

Reiter focus of fire in Epstein case¶

Clipped By:¶

reiter_m Sat. Apr 22, 2017¶

Copyright © 2019 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved.¶

Newspapers.com¶

The Palm Beach Post REM. NEWS SARIS HERE¶

Delays in Epstein case unusual, lawyers say¶

Posted Mar 13, 2007 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3;2019 at 3:48 PM¶

(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally published in .The Palm¶

Beach Post March 13, 2007)¶

A federal probe of a plea deal could explain the wait in.. Palm Beacher’s solicitation use. S¶

Nearly eight:months after.Pahn Beach tycoon. eft Epstein was charged with felony.solicitati titutiou, tberebas been no discernible progress No Witnesses deposed: No trial datese save for tontine court hearings reset’, anation.¶

“Usually that would be: u attorney Glenn MI case. d criminal defense asino involvement in.the¶

“As a gene would be unusual for nothing.to have happe ” agreed Michael Mak% a criminal defense a ome n ort Lauderdale. He represents of Palm Beach, potentially a key witness in the¶

A routine hearing for Epstein:was pulled from the court docket last week and reset for May 16. The delays and inaction could be due to a Potential federal probe of Epstein orbecause a plea deal is in the works, attorneys say..¶

Unusual is the wordthatbest describes everything about the case against Epstein, 54, an enigmatic money manager in New York.City who counts Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among his friends.¶

“Highly unusual” is how Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter described State Attorney Barry Krischer’s handling of the case in a bluntly critical letter to Krischer last year before Epstein was indicted.¶

Reiter referred the matter to the FBI to determine whether any federal laws had been violated. Epstein’s allies countered by attacking the chief personally and professionally.¶

Reiter’s department investigated Epstein for 11 months. Police sifted repeatedly through his trash and conducted surveillance on his five-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath, 7,234-sq foot home on the Intracoastal Waterway.¶

Police said Epstein paid women and girls as young iii44o ”/— give him erotic massages at his home. Policerhought there was probable cause to charge him with/unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivi,usitol anon. 2 \7,¶

Epstein responded by hiring • ea p) ta atot \ of lawyers. One of them, Harvard law profeScoMdlthor Alan Dershowitz, provided the state attokniAoffice with information about alcohol and marijuana tis \e by some of the girls who said they were with Epstein.¶

Prosecutors then referred the case to the grand jury rather — \ than file harges directly against Epstein.¶

Epstein’s attorneys deny he had sex with underage girls. the lawyers say the girls’ stories are not credible. But if the court file is any indicator, they’ve made no effort to depose the girls.¶

Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have sought to question , said Dutko, her attorney. She recruited teenage girls to visit Epstein for massages and sexual activity, Palm Beach police said, and presumably would be a key witness.¶

Epstein’s attorney Jack Goldberger did not return phone messages.¶

A source close to the case suggested it is languishing pending a decision by the FBI on whether to refer it to federal prosecutors.¶

“We still have a pending case,” FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Monday.¶

State Attorney Krischer did not return a call for comment. His spokesman, Mike Edmondson, declined to say whether federal investigators are delaying the Epstein case. But, he added, “if another agency is looking at something, we wouldn’t want to step on their toes.”¶

Attorneys say inertia in a criminal case ofte s to a pending plea deal.¶

“It would not surprise me if somediMg AS-Sfi kos )appened that’s not reflected in the court file,” said Dutko, such as an agreement that will be formalized hter.¶

Defense attorney r said defense attorneys sometimes put a conducting discovery — deposing witnesses, r uesti documents and the like — because doing so create ore work for harried prosecutors who may be ngry and not offer a plea deal.¶

_ “Sometimes defense lawyers, knowing that, will try and do d iscovery without taking depositions,” said Shiner, a former prosecutor for 13 years.¶

Instead, they may conduct a below-the-radar probe such as having a private investigator check out leads, he said.¶

Shiner and others say a plea deal for Epstein probably would result in pretrial intervention, in which a defendant may be ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, counseling or other conditions in return for dropping the charge.¶

Edmondson, spokesman for State Attorney Krischer, said there is no plea offer and no request for the prosecution to show its cards.¶

“To my knowledge, it’s never happened before on a filed case,” he said.¶

Cos¶

252 / 278 - Thursday, October 18, 2007¶

Section: LOCAL Page: 5B Source: The Associated Press Illustration: PHOTO (B&W) Memo: Ran all editions. Dateline: NEW YORK¶

WOMAN SUES BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR, SAYS THEY HAD SEX WHEN SHE WAS 16¶

A billionaire investor, already facing jail in Palm Beach County on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes, is being sued by a young woman who says he had sex with her when she was 16 and had sought his help becoming a model.¶

The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, says financier Jeffrey Epstein had the teen perform a sex act when she brought photographs of herself for him to review in his Upper East Side mansion sometime in 2000.¶

Epstein, 54, a money manager, told the teen he managed finances for Victoria’s Secret and “could get you into the catalog” if she were “nice” to him, court papers say. The papers say being “nice” included massages and other favors.¶

When the girl told Epstein, “I am 16 years old and just want to model,” he replied, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody,” court papers say.¶

Epstein, said by London’s Mail on Sunday to be a close friend of England’s Prince Andrew, has been indicted in Palm Beach on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes. That case is pending.¶

The girl visited Epstein “several times over the several months and engaged in bizarre and unnatural sex acts” while she was a minor, the lawsuit says.¶

Epstein “repeatedly requested that (the girl) return with her 14-, 15-, and 16-year-old girlfriends, stating, ‘Come by with your friends your age next time. Don’t bring Sherrie (a mutual friend in her 40s). I love girls your age.’”¶

The young woman, now 23, kept returning to Epstein because she has “mental issues,” said her lawyer, William J. Unroch. He refused to elaborate, but court papers say she was “disabled as a result of severe mental disease and defect.”¶

Epstein’s lawyer in New York, Gerald Lefcourt, said, “The girl has admitted she is insane, but she can read a newspaper and recognize the word ‘rich.’”¶

Lefcourt also said the statute of limitations has expired for the woman’s case criminally and civilly, and will almost certainly be dismissed.¶

He refused to comment on Epstein’s Florida charges.¶

Meanwhile, Unroch, 57, also acknowledged that his client was living with him and was at the center of a $10 million lawsuit he filed last year against a neighbor who said he was having sex with underage girls. That case is pending.¶

“What she was doing at 22 is irrelevant to what happened to her when she was 16,” Unroch said Wednesday. He went on the say he hoped Epstein would agree to “do right” by his client and resolve the case out of court.¶

The Palm Beach Post REM. NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Palm Beacher pleads in sex case¶

Posted Jul 1, 2008at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 1:47 PM¶

(EDITOR’S Nen: Ibis story originally published in The¶

Palm Reach for on July 1, 2008)¶

Jeffrey Epstein will: erve 1 1/2 years on teen solicitation AIDA charges:¶

He lives in a Pahn’Beach waterfront mansion and h company with the likes of President-Clinton, Prin Andre-wind Donald Trump, but inVestinen -Er effrey Epstein will call the Palm Beach County ilci t for the next IN months.¶

Epstein, 55, pleaded guilty PA prostitUtion and proturin prostitution. After serving 18 under house arres for act And he will haye a lifelong. obligation to sex offender. He; must: submit: to an HIV test hours, with the results being provid to his viCtithsortheir parents. \0 fe tiny solieitattion of under the age of 18.for dths in’jail, he Will be¶

s part.olsthe plea deal, federal investigators agreed to drop the investigation ofEpstein, which they had taken to a and jury).two law enforcement sources said.¶

Epstein.was indittettwo-years ago after an.11-month investigation:by..Palin Beach police. They.reCeived a. complaint frotria relative of a14-yearaold girl who had given Epstein a naked massage at his five bedroom, square-foot, $8.5 million Intracoastal home.¶

Police concluded that there were several. other girls brciught in 2004 and 2005 to an upstairs room at the home for ! similar massages and sexual touching. 1¶

The indictment charged Epstein only with felony solicitation of prostitution. The state attorney’s office later added the charge of procuring underage girls for that purpose.¶

Prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek said of the plea: “1 took irito consideration the length the trial would have been and witnesses having to testify” about sometimes embarrassing incidents.¶

Epstein may have made a serious mistake soon after he was charged. He rejected an offer to plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, according to police documents. He would have gorten, years’ probation, had no criminal record and not been a) registered sex offender, the documents indicate.¶

Epstein arrived in court Monday with at least three attorneys. He wore a blue blazer, blue shirt, blue jeans and and gray sneakers. AfteriCircilit Judge Deborah Dale Pucillo accepted the plea, he was fingerprinted. Epstein then removed his blazer and was handcuffed for the trip to jail while his attorneys tried to shield him from photographer? e s.¶

When he evelRuatiy is released to house arrest, Epstein will have to ea 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, have no d contact with anyone younger than 18 and er own nor possess pornographic or sexual materials at are relevant to your deviant behavior,” the judge said.¶

Epstein will be allowed to leave home for work. The New York-based money manager told the judge he has formed the not-for-profit Florida Science Foundation to finance scientific research. “I’m there every day,” Epstein said.¶

The foundation was incorporated in November. Epstein said he already has awarded money to Harvard and MIT. When he is released from jail, there is a chance that Epstein will be forced to move. Sex offenders are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of a school, park or other areas where children may gather. No determination has been made as to whether Epstein’s home complies, but attorneys said it likely does.¶

Sex offenders also typically must attend counseling sessions. Belohlavek said that was waived for Epstein because his private psychiatrist is working with him. The judge was skeptical but agreed to it.¶

ekӦ

Epstein’s legal woes don’t end with Monday’s plea. There are four pending federal civil lawsuits and one in state ii related to his behavior. At least one woman has sued %.h’ V in New York, where he owns a 51,000-square-f000klanB attan mansion.¶

/ “It’s validation of what we’re saying in the mil cases,” said Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman, who represents the alleged victims in the federal lawsuits. West Palm Beach attorney Ted Leopold represents one alleged victim in a civil suit in cipates amending that lawsuit to as well. state court. He said he add “a few others!’¶

) In the crimin e, police went so far as to scour Epstein’s trash and` surveillance at Palm Beach International ort, Where they watched for his private jet so they kwod know when he was in town. They concluded that stein paid girls $200 to $300 each after the massage sessions.¶

L as¶

“I’m like a Heidi Fleiss,” now 22, told police about her efforts in recruiting girls for Epstein.¶

There was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation, police concluded.¶

The state attorney’s office said questions about the girls’ credibility led it to take the unprecedented step of presenting the evidence against Epstein to a grand jury; rather than directly charging him.¶

Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was furious with State Attorney Barry Krischer, saying in a May 2006 letter that the prosecutor should disqualify himself. “I continue to find your office’s treatment of these cases highly unusual,” he wrote. He then asked for and got a federal investigation.¶

Epstein hired a phalanx of high-priced lawyers - including Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz - a public relations people who questioned Reiter’s compe and the victims’ truthfulness.¶

In addition to mansions in Palm Beach and Manhattan, Epstein owns homes in New Mexico and the Virgin Islands. He’s a frequent contributor to Demo tic Party candidates. He also donated $30 million tqt and in 2003.¶

Former New York Gov. Elio itzer returned a $50,000 campaign contributio pstein after his indictment, then resigned thi r ing his own sex scandal. And the same Palm Bach Po e Department that vigorously investigated Epstein returned his $90,000 donation for the purchasroffirearms simulator.¶

I Staff writer Eliot Kleinberg and former staff researcher Quigley contributed to this story.¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Jeffrey Epstein: Scientist, stuntman, `sex slave’ visit jailed tycoon¶

By LARRY _/ PaintBeach Post Staff Writer¶

Posted Aug:1.312008 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated JOTS, 2019 at 4;54 PM¶

Tycoon Jeffrey.Epstein mingled with an eclectic mix of AS people,; including; beautiful young Women, before he ro g:O into t ublefor paying teenage gins to give hits se C ) massages at his Falm. Beach mansion..¶

Not much has changed, even though he nine dorrit at the Palm Beath County She s 17-acte, 967-bed stockade near thelairg¶

During his first month of iefit, Epstein was visited by the .female assistant o, told:police, had escorted theni to theroomp< tfion where they gave him naked massag¶

Also treklcin &jail was a young. woman whom Epstein purpo escribed as his Yugoslavian sex slave.¶

thy financierand science wank also has been. stt>sd by an expert on artificial intelligences as Well as a . an who is a mixed martial arts aficionado and sonietitne movie stuntman,.¶

O¶

The only other people to visit NM Khe lei!, according to records, are a Island man and at individual who listed Epstein’s Paint Beach address as:his CAVIL¶

Epstein, 55, pleaded guilty on June. 30 to: two prostitutionrelated charges and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, followed by a year of house arrest. Epstein paid teenage¶

girls $200 to $300 in 2004 and 2005 for massages in hisi home that sometimes included sexual touching, Palm Beach police said.¶

His jail visitors in July included:¶

29, who some of the teen masseuses said phoned them when Epstein was in town and escorted them upon their arrival at his Palm Beach waterfront home to an upstairs room, where she prepared the massage table and provided the oils for their encounters with him. visited Epstein three times in July, according to a jail visitor’s log. lists a Manhattan home address. Reached by telephone, she declined to discuss Epstej¶

, 23, whose family in Yu o la Epstein paid money to so that he could bri her o the United States to be his “sex slave,” twoleetaage girls told police. One girl told police that Epstein instructed and her to kiss and have sex while he watched and masturbated. Another said she engaged in sex with at Epstein:surging. visited Epstein in jail four times in-13’cles-.=She lists her address as on the . Upper East to a attan, not far from Epstein’s enormous aci,znen¶

• Roge 62, founder of the Institute for Learning nces t Northwestern University and an expert on icial intelligence, paid one visit to Epstein. Schank has ritten numerous books on that subject and has a doctorate degree from Yale University in linguistics. He was one of 19 people who applied to be president of Florida Atlantic University in 2003. He became “chief learning officer” at the online Trump University in 2005. Schank listed his address as being in Stuart, and records show he also owns a home in Lake Worth.

Epstein has financed a number of scientists over the years, including Nobel Prize winners. He gave S30 million to Harvard University in 2003. In November, he formed the not-for-profit Florida Science Foundation, which he said finances scientific research.¶

• Igor Zinoviev, a Russian mixed martial arts fighter, who coaches a Chicago team in the International Fight League. He also has worked as a personal trainer, celebrity bodyguard and movie stuntman, according to the league’s Web site. The New Jersey resident visited Epstein seven times in July.

Zinoviev, Schank and comment. could not be reac¶

Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contribut story.¶

Palm Beach Daily News¶

Billionaire sex offender leaves jail six days a week for work¶

P.osted,Jul 1,2008 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 4 2019 at 9:27 AM¶

Palm BeiCh billionaire Jeffrey EgsteinyWhiaserving 18 months in jail.for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, is allowed toleaye the Palm. Beach County Stockade six days a week op a work-release program: O ACZ”,¶

Ten Barbera, spokeswoman for the. Palm Beach unty. Sheriffs Office, confirmed that Epstein, 55, h ee work-release program since Oct. 10.¶

Ile works six days a week: Friday this u . edngsday 10 a. m. to 10 p.m.,” Barbera said • ’ He) works. at his local West Palm Beach offi t ed.on an active GPS system (he wears an ankl b ele . Mr. Epstein hires.a. permit deputy, at .h’ for his. own. security at:his workplace duri he is out.’¶

Miami.actort a rey Herman reptesetits.six young wome o’ve sued Epstein, claiming he sexuillytabused m at\qis elm Beach. home when they were minors.¶

0¶

e an said:he received a letter about the work-release + ogram from the: U.S. Attorney’s °Mee within the. ast few-days. But Herman says. Epstein. had been out on workrelease, for several weeks befOre the notification.¶

“My:clients.expressed shock and disappointment: Herman said. “l find it incredible that on work-release in the community and my cfients.aren’t notified of this and we get this letter weeks after the fact?

¶

“He goes to work every single day and goes back to jail at night, just like everybody else (in the program),” Goldberger said.¶

Epstein pleaded guilty June 30 to two felony counts: soliciting prostitution and procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. As part of the plea agreement, Epstein must serve one year of house arrest and register as a lifelong sex¶

offender. C& A ‘ES C)¶

Women want Epstein sex plea deal unsealed¶

Posted Jul 1,2000 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct Z 2019 at 223 PM¶

Palm Beach Post june 14 2009)¶

Their attorneys will ask a judge to open Jeffrey Epstein’ O AS, records.¶

When wealthy money manager Jeffrey. Epstein of Co ) Beach pleaded guilty last year to fitocutin prostituticon, his case detoured aroun tate rules regardingthe sealing of court do;¶

At .a plea conference on the es, a judge, a defense lawyer and a prosecutor l the bench and decided that a deal Epstein h with federal prosecutors to avoid charges sha ed,accordingtO a transctipt. of, the hearing.¶

And was. v¶

( lict orFlori a rules ofjudicial.administrationtas well as rules : . Palm Brach. County:cow system, require public tification that a court document.kas been or will be sealed, meaning kept .from public view. The rules also require a judge to .finda significant reason to seal, such ‘as protecting 4 tilde secret or a compellinggpvernrnent interest.¶

Yet no notification or reason occurred in Epstein’s case, according to court records.¶

Epstein’s own attorneys, in federal filings, have referred to his confidential deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, struck in September 2007, as “unprecedented” and “highly unusual.” And it was “a significant inducement” for Epstein to accept the state’s, deal, observed the state judge who accepted his plea, County Judge Deborah Dale Pucillo.¶

Epstein now faces at least a dozen civil lawsuits in federal and state courts filed by young women who said they had sex with him and now are seeking damages.¶

Attorneys for some of those women want his agreeme with federal prosecutors unsealed and will ask Circ Jeffrey Colbath to do so today.¶

“It is against public policy for these documebts toe have been sealed and hidden from public scrutiny. Asa member of the public, E.W. has a right to lave these documents unsealed,” wrote former Circuit Judge Bill Berger, now in private practice and repre e of the women.¶

The Palm Beach will ask Colbath to unseal the agreement. Postat y Deanna Shullman will argue that the public ha~a rjht to know the specifics of Epstein’s deal.¶

Accord) various media accounts, Epstein moved in des th t included President Clinton, Donald Trump and c5ri la e dAnd2rew2.N”Interynatkional Moneymanril of fMEystery. ,” magazine¶

Epstein, 56, is in the Palm Beach County Stockade, serving an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty nearly a year ago to felony solicitation of prostitution and procuring teenagers for prostitution.¶

He is allowed out from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., escorted by a deputy, said Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera.¶

During a Palm Beach Police Department investigation, five victims and 17 witnesses gave statements. They told of ’ young women brought by his assistants to Epstein’s mansion on El Brillo Way for massages and sexual activity, and then being paid afterward.¶

At Epstein’s plea conference last year, his attorney, Jack Goldberger, and then-Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek approached Pucillo in a sidebar conference. Pucillo, who had left the bench nine years earlier, was filling in temporarily as a senior judge.¶

According to a transcript, Goldberger told Pucillo that Epstein had entered a confidential agreement with the attorney’s office in which federal prosecutors broktnt pursuing charges against him if he pleaded guilt n state court. Pucillo then said she wanted a sewed f the agreement filed in his case, and Gold curred that he wanted it sealed. Belohlavek 1 4 sictest si off on it.¶

The Florida Supreme Cou ASas A9 es “serious concern” and launched an all-o qui into sealing procedures across the state fol w edia reports in 2006 of entire cases being sea sappearing from court records.¶

“The public’s tutional right of access to court records must reijnviolate, and this court is fully committed to ng this right,” justices wrote in their final report.¶

s in’s office on Tuesday referred any questions to oldberger, who declined to comment. Pucillo also has declined to comment.¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Epstein secret pact with Feds reveals “highly unusual” terms¶

Posted-Jun 10,2009 at 12A1 AM¶

Updated Oct 4;2019 at 9:23 AM¶

(EDITOR’S NOTE This story originally pliblished in The¶

PaimSeach Post on September 19, 2009)¶

A secret non-prosecution agreement multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein struck with federal prosecu being Called “highly unusuar by former federal p and downright outrageous* attorneys now se ng young women who serviced him.¶

Thedeal reveals that the FBI and a 9 orney’s,Office investigated him forseveral f ,including engaging tiiitiors in commeea he crimes are punishable by anywhe rom 4p years tolife irrprison,¶

But federal pro t Ticked, down and agreed to recall. grand jury s poen Epsteinpleaded guilty to prostitution- felonies in state court, which he %litho; He received an 18-month jail sentence; pf *Ch”h erved 13 months.¶

c illhe’TJ.S. Attorney’s Office also agreed not to charge any of pSteitis possible to-conspirators: Adtiaria¶

IM, Lesley Groff and¶

The deal was negotiated in part by heavyweight New York criminal defense attorney Gerald Lefeourt.¶

Unsealed on Friday after attorneys for some of Epsteints victims and The Palm Beach Post sought its release, it offers the first public look at the deal. Epstein’s high-powered legal counsel brokered on his behalf¶

Mark [REDACTED] of Stuart, a former federal prosecutor, described the disparity in potential sentences as unusual, but even more so a provision on attorney payment.¶

The first draft of the agreement in September 2007 required that Epstein pay an attorney — tapped by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and approved by Epstein — to represent some of the victims. That attorney is prominent Miami lawyer Bob Josefsberg.¶

But an addendum to the agreement signed the following month struck Epstein’s duty to pay Josefsberg if he and the victims did not accept settlements — capped at $150,000 — and instead pursued lawsuits.¶

[REDACTED] said it appears the government was trying to balance the lesser sentence for Epstein with recovering $150,000 for each victim. “I’ve never, ever seen anything like that in my life,” he said. “It’s highly unusual.”¶

The deal does not say whether any victims were contacted or consulted before the deal was made.¶

Attorney Brad Edwards of Fort Lauderdale, who represents three of the young women, believes that none of the 30 to 40 woman identified as victims in the federal investigation were told ahead of time. [REDACTED] said his clients received letters from the U.S. Attorney’s Office months after the deal was signed, assuring them Epstein would be prosecuted.¶

“Never consulting the victims is probably the most outrageous aspect of it,” [REDACTED] said. “It taught them that someone with money can buy his way out of anything. It’s outrageous and embarrassing for United States Attorney’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office.”¶

Epstein now faces many civil lawsuits filed by the women, who are represented by a variety of attorneys. In many, the allegations are the same: that Epstein had a predilection for teenage girls, identified poor, vulnerable ones and used¶

other young women to lure them to his Palm Beach mansion. They walked away with between 5200 and $1,000.¶

Former Circuit Judge Bill Berger, also representing victims, called the agreement a “sweetheart deal.”¶

“Why was it so important for the government to make this deal?” Berger asked rhetorically. “We have not yet had an honest explanation by any public official as to why it was made … and why the victims were sold down the river.”¶

441,04 # Former federal prosecutor Ryon McCabe described the agreement as “very unorthodox.” Such agreements, he are usually reserved for corporations, not individ¶

“It’s very, very rare. I’ve never seen or hea procedure that was set up here,” said McCabe, o has no involvement in any Epstein litigatio¶

“He’s essentially avoiding federil ecution because he can afford to pay that ailc tv;Ss to help those victims review their cases. …) ersori has no money, he couldn’t be able to strike ?deal t is and avoid federal prosecution.¶

The b ckroom deal with federal prosecutors is all the more interest light of the legal powerhouses who have rked fir Epstein, including Harvard professor Alan owitz and Bill Clinton investigator Kenneth Starr. fcourt is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.¶

Epstein’s local defense attorney, Jack Goldberger, issued a statement Friday saying he had fought the release of the sealed agreement to protect the third parties named there. “Mr. Epstein has fully abided by all of its terms and conditions. He is looking forward to putting this difficult period in his life behind him. He is continuing his longstanding history of science philanthropy.”¶

The investigation triggered tensions between police and prosecutors, with then-Palm Beach Chief Michael Reiter saying in a May 2006 letter to then-State Attorney Barry: Krischer that the chief prosecutor should disqualify hirrisell¶

“I continue to find your office’s treatment of these cases highly unusual: Reiter wrote. He then asked for and got the federal investigation that ended in the sealed deal.¶

“The Jeffrey Epstein matter was an experience of what a¶

many-million-dollar defense can accomplish,” Reiter told the Palm Beach Daily News upon his retirement.¶

187 / 278 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010¶

Section: LOCAL & BUSINESS¶

Page: 3B¶

Source: By JANE MUSGRAVE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer¶

Dateline: WEST PALM BEACH¶

JUDGE RULES EPSTEIN ATTORNEYS CAN SUBPOENA ABORTION RECORDS¶

In a decision that could spark a constitutional showdown over privacy rights, dge Tuesday gave lawyers representing multimillionaire sex offender Jeffrey Ep he right to subpoena abortion records from women who are seeking millions in d the parttime Palm Beach resident.¶

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele said the records pstein rebut the women’s claims that they suffered psychological ills after being give him sexually-charged massages at his Palm Beach mansion when ere as young as 14. Hafele told Epstein’s attorneys they couldn’t go on a fishi ion. The medical records, he said, can’t be sought until the women are asked wh r • :ve ever had an abortion, how many and where. Further, he said, the records e made public and might not be admissible during trial.¶

But, he said, since the women claim Epstein, distress, his attorneys can explore the impa are a better source of information than a esponsible for their emotional vents. Medical records, Hafele said, mory.¶

Attorney Louis Silver, who represent Beach clinic where abortions are p constitutional grounds. ential Women’s Health Center, a West Palm ed Hafele that he was stepping on shaky¶

“These records are protected Florida Constitution. itutional right of privacy,” he said, referring to the¶

After the hearing, Silver said records. peal won’t be necessary until Epstein attorneys seek the¶

In another ruling can’t be releas complained became edn ay, Hafele also said that videos from depositions in the state cases thous court order. The ruling came after Epstein attorney Robert Critton of Epstein being asked whether he had an “egg-shaped” penis corn sensation. It first appeared on The Palm Beach Post Web site.¶

Critton orney Spencer Kuvin for releasing it. Kuvin said it was public record.¶

The procun month sentence. As part of the deal brokered with federal prosecutors, he agreed not to contest the accusations in the civil lawsuits. He can argue the women don’t deserve the millions they are seeking. began mounting after Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state charges: minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He served 13 months of an 18-¶

-jane_musgrave®pbpost.com¶

Epstein Journal’s Findings Could Resurrect Case¶

Posted Sep 17, 2019 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated Oct 1, 2019 at 10:51 AM¶

(EDITOR’S NOTE This story originally published in-The¶

Palm Bead) Poo’on Mora: 20, 2010)¶

A purloined journal that is saidto.contain the names o “Mitidrede of vittinis of:convicted:sex offenderele Epstein could be used to reopen the investiga n multi-millionaires appetite (Or teenage pi- orney representing seven of the victims said¶

New details about the contents e jo nalwerereieased thisweek when Alfredo Ro o worked as a property, manager for the Beach resident, pleaded guilty to obstruction for lying to federal agents when asked’ f h ormation about his former boss’ crimin e later tried to sell the journal he stole from Ep or $50,000.0 an, unidentified person, who al uthorities, according to court records.¶

art of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors said:the al “contains information material to the. Epstein vestigation, including: the names of.material witnesses and additional Victims!’¶

“Had the items been produced in response to the inquiries of state or federal authorities … the materials would have been presented to the federal grand jury,” federal prosecutors. wrote,¶

Instead, prosecutors short-circuited the grand jury investigation and cut a deal with Epstein. They agreed not to pursue federal charges if he didn’t contest prostitutionrelated felonies in state court. The money manager pleaded guilty in July 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He served 13 months of an 18 month sentence.¶

Attorney Adam Horowitz, who represents seven of the roughly 18 women who have filed civil suits against Epstein, said the new information could trump the socalled non-prosecution agreement.¶

The multifaceted agreement, he said, deals only with a specific list of victims that the U.S. Attorney’s Office knew about when it penned the deal in 2007. If additional victims are listed in the journal Rodriguez stole, orowiti said federal prosecutors could reopen them ti ation.¶

“It opens the door for further ution,” he said.¶

,::’.. fr,- In addition to turning over thajournal to federal agents, Rodriguez told them’ / e Icaew his former boss was having \ c h \z” sex with underage girls when he worked for him in 2004 r , and 2005. He had seen naked girls, who looked like minors, in the pool of Epstein’s $8.6 million mansion. He had seen pornog Iraphis t, images of young girls on Epstein’s computer, rdin to court records.¶

°either Epstein’s criminal defense attorney, Jack Goldberger, nor attorney Robert Critton, who represents Epstein in the civil lawsuits, could be reached. Federal prosecutors have consistently declined comment.¶

The wording of the controversial agreement is unclear. It says federal prosecutors would provide Epstein’s attorneys “with a list of individuals whom it has identified as victims.” Miami attorney Robert Josefsberg was appointed to¶

represent any of the victims on the list who wanted to pursue Epstein in civil court. As part of the agreement,: Epstein is to pay for Josefsberg to represent the warned.¶

Some of the women, most identified as Jane Doe in lawsuits, had already hired attorneys to represent them. Some have since settled their suits with Epstein, although terms were not disclosed.¶

Horowitz said he has filed court papers to get the journal that Rodriguez stole. “It’s another piece of evidence that shows our clients were at Epstein’s mansion,” he said.¶

Rodriguez told prosecutors he didn’t turn over the jou when both FBI and Palm Beach police asked for it he wanted money for it. He also said he was ‘d would make him “disappear.” The informs told investigators, was his “insurance polic¶

He faces a maximum 20 years 1 en he is sentenced on June 18.¶

jane_musgrave@pbp¶

@PbRcourts¶

The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶

Epstein paid three women $5.5 million to end underagesex lawsuits¶

Posted Oct 3, 2017 at 12:01 AM¶

Updated.Oct 4,2017 at 12:46 AM¶

Ending years of speculation about how much Palm Beach billionairejleffr in paid young Voiteti who claimed It used them as set tint, court documents filed OW he shelled out $5.5 minima° settle lawsuits with three of more than two:doze ns. w osued him.¶

Responding to requests fiorn Epsteinfsattotneys in a compl= it that was spawned by the sex scandal, attorney said the political,. con 64-year-old convicted sex offender paid more than $1 million to each of the th represented.¶

Identified in.tbUrt papers:ohly bytheir initia nytits because. if the (atilt* of the allegations and:their youthful ages, L.M. *d.$ million,t,W..$2 million and Jane Doe. $2.5 million,. said of the -sell he egotiated with Epstein to enclthe lawsuits.¶

Jack Goldberger, one of Epste defense attorneys, on Tuesday declined comment on the revelations; citing tOnfide greenients that were part of the settletnents. Fot the same reason, he declin o say w ether Epstein paid similar amounts to settle roughly two dozen lawsuits filed by o r oung women against Epstein, claiming he paid them for sex when some wergyoung as 14 years old.¶

Attorney la)who it representing , said his’ client was compelled to divulge, the co settlements to answer questions posed by Epstein% attorneys. !Brilliant move on. their p he said.¶

Even if Epstein’s attorneys hadn’t opened the door, Stayola said the information would have likely come out. He says the information will help him undermine Epstein’s claims that “ginned upn’the illegationsto help his former law partner, imprisoned and disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, perpetuate a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.¶

The revelations of the settlements came as part of an ongoing lawsuit that started as a dispute between Epstein and Rothstein, both billionaires.¶

A year after Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution, he sued Rothstein and , claiming they trumped up the allegations of sexual molestation to perpetuate the Ponzi scheme.¶

Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2010 after admitting he had built his wildly successful law firm by forging the names of federal judges and others to persuadeAnvestors he had negotiated settlements in lawsuits against high-profile people. Investors were told they could get a cut of the cash.¶

One of the high-profile people Rothstein used to lure investors was psteinyaccording to a lawsuit West Palm Beach attorney Robert Critton filed on Epstein’s behalf. According to the lawsuit, Rothstein told investors Epstein, a money manager, had agreed to settle the lawsuits with the teens for $200 million — a claim Critton described as “a complete fabrication.”¶

After Epstein dropped the lawsuit in 2012, Edwards turned the tables on him. accused Epstein of filing the lawsuit maliciously to pu ish: im for representing the young women. Although was a partner in Rothst o defunct firm, Scarola claims Epstein had no evidence was involved in charged other attorneys and mem said in the malicious prosecuti n law i scheme. Federal prosecutors successfully firm, but was never implicated, Scarola¶

The revelations about thenoney Epstein paid to three of the young woman came last week in documents filed for hearing Tuesday in preparation for a December trial on the lawsuit.¶

Attorney_TOnja-Baddad Coleman, who represents Epstein, on Tuesday sought a delay of the trial, in part, because she claimed she has been unable to talk to her client since his estate on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands was devastated last month by Hurricane Irma. “I’ve had no ability to communicate with Mr. Epstein: she said.¶

Pointing out Epstein’s enormous wealth and his private jet, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele rejected her request. While saying he didn’t want to appear insensitive to those victimized by the storm that hammered the Caribbean and roared through South Florida, he said Coleman offered no proof, such as an affidavit from Epstein, to shore up her claims.¶

Still, Hafele gave Coleman extra time to respond to various motions that he will have to decide before the case goes to trial.¶

Despite Scarola’s insistence that had nothing to do with Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme, Coleman said the evidence indicates otherwise. Why else would he try to depose Epstein’s well-known friends, such as now President Donald Trump, former Presi. Clinton and illusionist David Copperfield, she asked. He used the celebrities as a d id.¶

“The Epstein cases were used to fleece money and defraud inves rs, aid.¶

Edward’s malicious prosecution case has been difficult fo t h because both Epstein and have refused to answer questions. As he did ’ th lawsuits, Epstein has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimin hit questioned by Scarola. has claimed that much of the information Ep 14,, / tei king is protected by attorney-client privilege.¶

The malicious prosecution lawsuit against Epstein. EdwardS the federal Crime Victims Rig Epstein. o hotly-contested lawsuits that continue to pit suing the U.S. attorney’s office, claiming it violated when it negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with¶

Only after federa osecut rs agreed to drop their investigation of Epstein, did he agree to plead guilty t p titution charges in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. In federal court records, p to s claim one of the key reasons they agreed to drop their case was Epstein’s agreerne ettle lawsuits filed against him by dozens of his underage victims.¶

Palm Beach Daily News¶

Judge rules feds’ agreement with. Jeffrey Epstein pact violated teen victims’ rights¶

(EDITOR’S NMI: Thir story originally published in The AlIC¶

Posted Sep 176 2019 at 4A3 PM¶

Updated Oct 8,2019 at12;33 PM¶

S¶

Palm Brach Post tinFebruary 22, 2019)¶

Federal prosecutors violated the rights of Jeffrey. teenage victims by failing to reveal they, a to prosecute the billionaire on dozens o connection with the girls’ claims th at his Palm Beach mansion, U.S Marra ruled on Thursday. k \ ed plans arges in em for sex age Kenneth¶

Iii blistering 33-pag ‘ng, : arra .meticulously and methodically deta t n erotic steps federal prosecutors t t the agreementfrom more than 40 youngworn aim Epstein paid them for sex when they w’ t e as oryoung as 14.¶

lie government spent untold,hours tiegotiatingthe and irhplications of the NPA with .Epstein’s attorneys, ntinforrnation was shared with the victims: Marra wrote. ‘nstead, the victims were toldto be ‘patient while the investigatioh proceeded?¶

By then, it was too late: A deallhad thready been cut with then-South Florida U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta and Epstein’s attorneys to shelve a•$2-page federal indictment against Epstein, a. former math teacher filmed money manager who counts Presidents Donald Trump and.Bill Clinton among his (fiends.¶

Prosecutors’ failure to alert the young women about the, deal violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, Marra ruled. “At a bare minimum the (act) required the government to inform (the young women) that it intended to enter into! an agreement not to prosecute Epstein,” he wrote.¶

Still, Marra said he wasn’t second-guessing prosecutors’ decision not to pursue Epstein on federal charges if he pleaded guilty to minor state prostitution charges and agreed to compensate his victims for the trauma he caused. A___ , ’,¶

“The court is not ruling that the decision not to prosecute —Th e was improper,” Marra wrote. “The court is simply rulin that, under the facts of this case, there was a violatio the CVRA.” c¶

Further, he made no decision about what dy should be. He gave prosecutors and a s representing the young women 15 days to meet to ow to unravel the complex legal web that ha b an ing over Epstein and his young victims for ore r a decade.¶

The chances an accorf reached are slim, said attorney Jack Scarola, who is representing the two Jane Does who challenged the prosecutors’ actions.¶

Further, he said, there is no road map to follow. The la suit attorney filed on behalf of the two ir entified young women, claiming prosecutors violated Ote ral act, is unique, he said.¶

“We are treading on virgin ground, to use what is probably an inappropriate phrase in this situation,” he said.¶

Scarola said he and will ask that the nonprosecution agreement be thrown out. That would open the possibility that the long-shelved federal indictment could be dusted off and filed against the 66-year-old Epstein, who spends most of his time on a private island he owns in the U.S. Virgin Islands.¶

“I don’t see the government conceding to that remedy,”’ Scarola admitted. Further, he said, it is likely Epstein will be allowed to weigh in. Miami attorney Roy Black years ago filed papers asking to intervene on Epstein’s behalf.¶

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it wouldn’t comment on Marra’s ruling. Neither Black nor New York City attorney Jay Lefkowitz, who led efforts to bury the federal indictment, responded to emails or phone calls for comment. West Palm Beach attorney Jack Goldberger, who represents Epstein, also didn’t respond.¶

Scarola said it is likely Epstein’s star-studded legal team wit argue that Epstein fully complied with the terms of the JI agreement he made in 2007 with federal prosecutors and therefore the agreement can’t be undone. —,¶

As he promised, Epstein pleaded guil 8 to state charges of soliciting a minor forp and soliciting He served 13 mo N ck an 18-month jail term in a vacant wing of the co ty st ade that he was allowed to leave 12 hours a da g • ayda week.¶

Further, as agr ‘settlements to the young women who sued hi Whi e settlements were confidential, court records he paid three women a total of $5.5 million¶

eturn, federal prosecutors held up their end of the rgain. Their investigation ceased.¶

Having done all that prosecutors asked of him, Scarola said Epstein will make a simple argument: “You can’t turn around and deprive me of the benefits I bargained for.”¶

However, Scarola said, using Marra’s ruling, he will counter that the contract Epstein signed was illegal and therefore unenforceable.¶

Even if Marra agrees to toss out the non-prosecution agreement, Scarola conceded that doesn’t mean Epstein! will face federal charges.¶

“The contract can be set aside and the federal government can attempt to enter into the same agreement,” he said. “Except the spotlight of public attention will be on them and the 40 victims will be able to explain to the court why this sweetheart deal should not be approved.”¶

Scarola said that prosecutors may have had good reason not to pursue Epstein. “There may be a reasonable explanation , but we don’t know what that reason may have been,” he said.¶

In court papers, federal prosecutors have said that many of the young women were afraid to cross the powerful, politically connected money manager and simply refused to testify against him.¶

In other cases, they said, th at e hanged their stories. Jane Doe 2, who is trying o ve e non-prosecution agreement thrown oddly described Epstein as “an awesome man” and told prosecutors she hoped “nothing .— — V ,,l’ happens” to Lim. toWhile she later agreed to testify against Epstein, pros rs said they feared Epstein’s attorneys would words to destroy her if she ever took the ( c nil.¶

O a , however, said the young woman’s comments didn’t can she wasn’t entitled to know about the prosecutors’ plans to drop the charges. “There is no dispute that Epstein sexually abused Jane Doe 2 while she was a minor,” he wrote. “Therefore, regardless of her comments to the prosecutor, she was a victim.”¶

Before the case is finally resolved, Scarola predicted that “a lot of people are going to have to answer a lot of questions.”¶

In his ruling, Marra detailed what appeared to be a cozy relationship between Acosta, his line prosecutors and Epstein’s team of lawyers. His phalanx of lawyers included noted Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, the former U.S. solicitor general whose investigation • led to the impeachment of President Clinton.¶

Marra describes an October 2007 breakfast meeting between Acosta, who is now U.S. labor secretary, and Lefkowitz shortly after the non-prosecution agreement was inked.¶

40A¶

After the meeting, Lefkowitz sent Acosta a note thank’ him for “the commitment you made to me during our, October 12 meeting in which you assured me that (our) Office would not … contact any of the identified individuals, potential witnesses, or potential civil claimants and their respective counsel in this matters¶

/1- Marra quoted an equally pleasant’here then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer sent to Assistant U.S. Attorney Villafana, who was the lead prosecutor in Epstein’s case. “Glad we cou►d get this worked out for reasons I won’t put in writing,” Krischer wrote, shortly after the non-prosecution agreement was signed. “After this is reso ved I would love to buy you a cup at Starbucks and have a sation.”¶

( itt y of the notes that were exchanged dealt with osecutors’ and Epstein’s lawyers’ shared desire to keep the deal secret from Epstein’s accusers. In a September email, Villafana asked Lefkowitz for guidance about what she should reveal. “And can we have a conference call to discuss what I may disclose to … the girls regarding the Agreement,” she asked.¶

Such cooperation between prosecutors and defense attorneys is unusual, Marra said. “It was a deviation fromI the government’s standard practice to negotiate with defense counsel about the extent of crime victim notifications,” he wrote.¶

Further, he noted, that when and his two young clients asked for information, they were repeatedly misled. “The CRVA was designed to protect victims’ right and ensure their involvement in the criminal justice process,” Marra wrote. “When the government gives information to victims it cannot be misleading.”¶

Ultimately, the terms of the non-prosecution agree to were revealed only after and attorneys fo the press successfully sued to make them public.¶

jmusgrave@pbpost.com¶

AS )¶

@pbpcourts --------¶

76 / 278 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019¶

Edition: Final¶

Section: A Section¶

Page: 1A¶

Source: By Jane Musgrave, The Palm Beach Post¶

Epstein indicted on sex charges¶

Part-time Palm Beacher pleads not guilty to sex trafficking, conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan¶

Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein on M day leaded not guilty to charges accusing him of creating a vast network of girls asy g that he exploited for his sexual pleasure at his homes in Palm Beach and than¶

The 66-year-old money manager’s appearance in U.S. District rt in New York City capped more than a decade of recriminations by young women and their attorneys who claimed Epstein used his money and political influence to avoid federal prosecution.¶

Epstein’s attorney Reid Weingarten dismissed the two-count indictment on sex trafficking charges as “essentially a do-over” of allegations that landed Epstein in the Palm Beach County Jail for 13 months more than a decade ago.¶

However, unlike in 2007 when then-South Florida U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta agreed to shelve a 53-page federal indictment aflertpstein agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges, prosecutors NewAork indicated they aren’t willing to deal. Acosta is now U.S. labor secretary.¶

“The alleged behavior shocktthe cgnscience,” New York City U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a¶

morning news confere “And while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly impo o many of the alleged victims, now young women. They deserve their day in court’¶

At a detention heating scheduled for Monday, Berman said he will ask a federal judge to keep Epstein behind bars until he is tried on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commitseX;trafficking. Epstein paid dozens of young women to give him nude massages that,forrinostjed to sex, he said.¶

If corriisted of exploithiblozens of young women, including many Palm Beach County girls who were students at Palm Beach High School, Epstein faces a maximum 45-year prison sentence.¶

Citing Epstein’s enormous wealth, his homes in New York, Palm Beach, the U.S. Virgin Islands, New Mexico and Paris and his ownership of two jets, Berman said there are few conditions that could keep Epstein from fleeing to a foreign country to evade prosecution.¶

“We think he’s a significant flight risk,” Berman said of the man who ferried Britain’s Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey, famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and former President Bill Clinton on his jet, dubbed the Lolita Express.¶

Berman’s hard-line stance was welcomed by young women who for years have been told that Epstein couldn’t be touched because Acosta signed off on the nonprosecution agreement, promising not to charge Epstein in federal court.¶

Former Palm Beach County resident Virginia Guiffre, who has accused Epstein of turning her into his sex slave and forcing her to have sex with others, including Dershowitz and Prince Andrew, praised Berman. He showed the case is “being taken in a serious way,” she told the Associated Press. Dershowitz has vehemently denied Guiffre’s claims.¶

New York prosecutors were able to ignore the controversial nonprosecution agreement because it contained some significant fine print, said former federal Judge Paul Cassell, who for years has fought to get the agreement thrown out. It says only that no charges could be filed against Epstein in South Florida, he said.¶

Berman agreed. “That agreement only binds, by its terms, only binds the Southern District of Florida,” he said. “The Southern District of New York is not bound by that agreement and wasn’t a signatory of it.”¶

That means the sordid allegations that have been leveled at Epstein for years are now part of a federal indictment.¶

Contrary to Epstein’s claims, he knew the women who came to his homes in New York and Palm Beach were minors because they told him their ages, according to the indictment. Epstein preyed on young girls because he knew they were “vulnerable to exploitation,” prosecutors added.¶

As part of a carefully orchestrated sex ring, Epstein or his associates would call girls while he was in New York so they would be available for sex once he returned to Palm Beach, the indictment says. The employees weren’t named. They were identified only as “Employee-1,” “Employee-2” and “Employee-3.”¶

To ensure he had a steady stream of young girls, Epstein would turn some victims into recruiters. He would pay them to bring new girls to his home on El Brillo Way along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach or to his palatial townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side.¶

“This allowed Epstein to create an ever-expanding web of new victims,” Berman said. In both New York and Palm Beach, the lurid operation was similar. Unidentified employees of Epstein’s would escort the teens into a room. They were told to take off all or most of their clothes before giving the naked billionaire massages, according to the indictment.¶

“Epstein would also typically masturbate during these encounters, ask victims to touch him while he masturbated, and touch victims’ genitals with his hands or with sex toys,” the indictment says.¶

As part of the criminal complaint, prosecutors are asking that Epstein be forced to turn over his multimillion-dollar townhouse on East 71st Street. The complaint does not seek forfeiture of Epstein’s house in Palm Beach.¶

While heartened that Epstein now faces serious criminal charges in New York, Cassell said he would continue to push a West Palm Beach-based federal judge to throw out the nonprosecution agreement that Acosta forged with Epstein’s star-studded legal team.¶

U.S. District Judge Kenenth Marra has already ruled that Acosta violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not telling Epstein’s victims about the agreement before it was inked. Coincidentally, Cassell and Epstein attorney Roy Black had to file papers by midnight Monday, explaining what action Marra should take to redress that wrong.¶

Cassell insisted Epstein should face charges in federal court in West Palm Beach. “Florida victims deserve justice in Florida,” said Cassell, who is working on behalf of Epstein’s victims with attorneys [REDACTED] and Jack Scarola.¶

Since it’s likely Florida women will get to testify against Epstein in New York, Scarola said he’s not focused on whether Epstein will face charges here. Instead, he said he wants to know how and why the agreement was reached.¶

“There’s been no explanation as to how a deal like this could have been cut and how the federal government could have been involved in a conspiracy to violate federal law,” Scarola said of his interest in continuing the legal battle over the nonprosecution agreement.¶

When Acosta agreed to drop the federal investigation, Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a vacant wing of the Palm Beach County Jail - a cell he was allowed to leave 12 hours a day, six days a week. He was also forced to register as a sex offender and settle civil lawsuits more than 30 young women filed against him.¶

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, said she shares Scarola’s interest in finding out how the agreement came to be. “I am especially more interested in why Epstein got the deal he got,” Frankel said. “We need to know why he was given such an easy sentence.¶

While she has asked the House Oversight Committee to investigate Acosta, Frankel said she is not sure that will happen. “It just seems to me it was a travesty that this guy got off the way he did and, without pre-judging it, let’s have a proper court case,” Frankel said.¶

Former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was inflamed in 2006 when then-State Attorney Barry Krischer refused to charge Epstein with serious crimes. Reiter took the information his officers had gathered from dozens of Epstein’s victims to Acosta, believing he would prosecute Epstein. He didn’t.¶

Reiter said he was heartened that 13 years later, Epstein will finally face justice.¶

“Thankfully, U. S. Attorney Berman and the other authorities in New York have the good judgment to investigate and prosecute Epstein in the way that should have occurred in Florida over a decade ago,” Reiter said in a statement.¶

And, Scarola said, there are signals that Berman’s investigation is far from over.¶

Berman declined to answer questions about whether others, such as Epstein’s high-powered friends, would be charged. He brushed off questions about the significance that the investigation was being handled by the Public Corruption Unit.¶

While agents on Saturday were arresting Epstein aboard his private jet at the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after returning from Paris, other officers were searching his New York City townhouse. Agents seized nude photos of young girls who appeared to be minors, Berman said.¶

He said his focus was on finding more women who were exploited and abused by Epstein. Turning to a poster, detailing the charges that had been filed against Epstein, he pointed a finger at a photo of the convicted sex offender who was once described as “a man of mystery.”¶

“If you believe you are a victim of this man, Jeffrey Epstein, we want tolhear from you,” Berman said. A special number, 1-800-CALLFBI, will link victims of authorities.¶

Bill Sweeney, assistant director of the FBI’s New York office, said after years of being ignored by federal agents, the victims’ voices will be heard.¶

“The Jeffrey Epstein matter is No. 1 on the major case list in the country’,” Sweeney said.¶

Turning to address Epstein’s victims directly, he said: “Your bravery may empower others to speak out against crimes against them.”¶

jmusgrave@pbpost.com¶

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