LM BEACH
ARTMENT
POLICE
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
4, 2006
CHAPTER 49
Jeffrey Epstein: September 2007
which has been investigated by the Palm
fered for prosecution to the Palm Beach
ware that Jeffrey Epstein was indicted on
of Florida grand jury last week and turned
23, 2006. While I do not speak for them,
in which the Palm Beach County State
es that involved the crime in which your
of law enforcement to investigate crime
tor for consideration. I believe that the
tently and responsibly in carrying out this
the state prosecution of this matter, they
State Attomey's Office.
served by the indictment that has been
has been referred to the Federal Bureau
eral law have occurred. In the event that
Palm Beach Police Department will assist
of federal law.
0 should you have any questions
ly.
herl S. Reuter
S. Reiter
t Police
13-5460-FAX (561) 835-4700 www.palmbeachpolice.com
In the winter of 2013, Scott Blake, a forty-seven-year-old middle school principal from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, would
be sentenced to the minimum mandatory sentence-ten
years in prison, with ten years of probation on top-for pleading guilty to one charge of soliciting sex with a minor.
Blake's crime? He sent sexually charged messages to a Boynton Beach police officer who was pretending to be a fifteen-year-old
boy. But in a sense, Blake was lucky: he could have been sentenced to life. The case was an interesting example of the kind of
treatment regular Florida folks could expect just for soliciting sex
with a minor. But nothing about Jeffrey Epstein was regularand the plea deal he managed to strike in 2007 was simply
extraordinary.
Epstein had bought himself one of the best defense teams ever
assembled. His connections and contributions to Democratic
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JAMES PATTERSON
FILT
causes had made him a player on that side of the political aisle. He
had a famous Republican, Bill Clinton's nemesis, Ken Starr, working the other side. And just to make sure they'd covered the bases,
Epstein's team also recruited Roy Black-the lawyer who'd
cleared William Kennedy Smith of rape and kept Rush Limbaugh
out of prison for his alleged illegal drug use-and Jay Lefkowitz,
a defense attorney who'd worked with US attorney R. Alexander
Acosta at Ken Starr's law firm.
And so in September, the US attorney's office reached a formal agreement with Epstein's team: the United States would
defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the state of
Florida.
A non-prosecution agreement (NPA) was drafted; among
other things, it assured Epstein that he would not be prosecuted
in the Southern District of Florida for felony offenses involving
the sexual abuse of underage girls. (By that point, thirty known
victims had been discovered.) Instead it allowed him to plead
guilty to state felony offenses for solicitation of prostitution and
the procurement of minors for prostitution. The NPA established
a procedure that allowed Epstein's victims to sue him in civil
court and took the extraordinary step of ensuring that "any
potential co-conspirators" of Epstein's would be immune from
prosecution.
"In consideration of Epstein's agreement to plead guilty and
to provide compensation in the manner described above, if
Epstein successfully fulfills all of the terms and conditions of
this agreement, the United States also agrees that it will not
institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein," the agreement stated, mentioning Sarah Kellen
and Nadia Marcinkova by name.
188
"The parties anticipate tha
part of any public record," 1
United States receives a Freed
any compulsory process comm
ment, it will provide notice
disclosure."
Remarkably, despite assur
feds, none of the victims was (
this NPA.
If Epstein did not sign the a
count indictment and a decade
team of lawyers had gotten him
ted all the teeth in South Florid:
For all his protestations of ir
in the world to agree to an NPA.
On September 24, 2007, Eps
Once again, none of the v
notified.
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