EFTA00183053¶
U.S. Department of Justice¶
United States Attorney¶
Southern District of Florida¶
500 South Australian Ave., Suite 400¶
West Palm Beach, FL 33401¶
(561) 820-8711¶
Facsimile: (561) 820-8777¶
July 17, 2008¶
VIA FACSIMILE¶
Lewis Tein, P.L.¶
3059 Grand Avenue, Suite 340¶
Coconut Grove, FL 33133¶
Esq.¶
Re: Jeffrey Epstein¶
Dear Mr. Tein:¶
The Office has reviewed your “Notice of Continued Pendency of Federal Criminal Action,” and we feel that it misrepresents the posture of the federal investigation. For example, you cite to In re Grand Jury, No. FGJ 07-103 (WPB), as evidence that the federal criminal action remains pending. That is a citation to Mr. Epstein’s Motion to Quash a subpoena for computer equipment removed from Mr. Epstein’s home after he and his attorneys were aware of the existence of the state investigation. Pursuant to the Non-Prosecution Agreement, that motion was supposed to have been withdrawn several months ago, and, therefore, is not “pending” in our estimation.¶
The Non-Prosecution Agreement calls for deferment of federal prosecution “in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida, provided that Epstein abides by the [enumerated] conditions and the requirements of th[e] Agreement …” (Non-Prosecution Agreement, p. 2 (emphasis added)). One of those conditions is Epstein’s agreement that the subject Jane Does, while minors, were victims of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title 18, United States Code Section 2255, and that they “will have the same rights to proceed under Section 2255 as [they] would have had if Mr. Epstein had been tried and convicted of an enumerated offense.” (United States Attorney’s December 19, 2007 letter to Lilly Ann Sanchez.)¶
If, in fact, your position is that the federal criminal action is still pending such that the Court must stay the civil proceedings, then the Office proposes that we seek the prompt resolution of the Motion to Quash, so that the computer equipment can be analyzed and the¶
EFTA00183054¶
MICHAEL TEIN, ESQ. JULY 17, 2008 PAGE 2¶
federal investigation can continue. If, instead, Mr. Epstein intends to fully abide by the Non-Prosecution Agreement, then the “federal Grand Jury investigation will remain suspended, and all pending federal Grand Jury subpoenas will be held in abeyance unless and until [Epstein] violates any term of [the Non-Prosecution Agreement].” (Non-Prosecution Agreement, page 5.)¶
Please advise whether you intend to correct the representations to the Court regarding the status of the federal investigation.¶
Sincerely,¶
R. Alexander Acosta¶
United States Attorney¶
By:¶
Assistant United States Attorney¶
cc: Jack Goldberger, Esq.¶
Esq.¶