File 021790
Email Chain and Editorial Analysis of Epstein Plea Deal and Police Investigation (File 021790)
Email forwarding chain and Palm Beach Post editorial articles examining Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 plea deal for solicitation of prostitution, the role of Police Chief Michael Reiter's investigation, and criticism of the legal process that allowed a lenient sentence.
Summary
This document contains forwarded emails from Jeffrey Epstein's legal team discussing a plea deal, accompanied by two Palm Beach Post opinion pieces from 2006 and 2008. The articles critique Epstein's plea agreement for soliciting prostitution from underage girls, questioning why he received an 18-month jail sentence rather than state prison time and how his high-powered legal team (including Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr) influenced the outcome. A second article defends Police Chief Michael Reiter against attacks from Epstein's camp, noting his professionalism in pressing for more serious charges and referring the case to the FBI, despite pressure from State Attorney Barry Krischer's office.
From: Jeffrey Epstein [jeevacation@gmail.com]Sent: 2/26/2010 6:37:49 PMTo: Robert D. Critton Jr. ; Jessica Cadwell________________________________Subject: Fwd: Fw: Epstein -- I apologize if you have received this but it keeps coming back to me as undeliverable----------Forwarded message----------From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 9:59 AMSubject: Fwd: Fw: Epstein -- I apologize if you have received this but it keeps coming back to me asundeliverableTo: "Alan M. Dershowitz" Martin WeinbergForwarded messageFrom:____________________________________Date: Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 5:58 AMSubject: Fw: Epstein -- I apologize if you have received this but it keeps coming back to me as undeliverableTo: jeevacation@gmail.comForwarded by Public Records/PalmBeach on 02/24/2010 05:58AMTo:From: Michael Reiter/PalmBeachDate: 07/10/2008 02:36PMSubject: Epstein -- I apologize if you have received this but it keeps coming back to me as undeliverableMargie,IT As you know, nothing too big or too small for us, especially in the summer IT Hmmmmm. I have to bedirect -- you or someone at your paper was very astute in checking the Clerk and Comptroller's computerand activity in the Epstein case two days before the hearing. As result, you sent me a text message onSaturday asking what the activity was about and I confirmed that the plea would take place. You werethe only member of the news media that I talked with. And yet, after the case is completely over, thePalm Beach Daily News' editorial staff remains silent on the topic.Thanks,MikePalm Beach Post EditorialMonday, July 07, 2008Two years after a grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution, Jeffrey Epsteinfinally admitted that he lured a teenage girl to his $8.5 million, 13,000-square-foot Palm Beach mansion forsex. A week ago, the 55-year-old investment banker began serving 18 months in jail.But that plea deal - guilty of felony solicitation of prostitution and procuring a person under the age of 18 forprostitution - does not account for all five of the girls, one as young as 14, who alleged that Epstein sexuallyabused them. And why is Epstein serving his term in the overcrowded Palm Beach County Jail and not a stateprison, where inmates are sent if their sentences are longer than one year?HOUSE OVERSIGHT 021790The slow, dissatisfying resolution of the case sends a message to the public that there's a different system ofjustice for the wealthy who hire high-powered lawyers. Epstein's legal team included West Palm Beach defenseattorney Jack Goldberger, Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz, who defended O.J. Simpsonagainst murder charges, and Kenneth Starr, the prosecutor who pursued then-President Bill Clinton for lyingabout sex with young women.Palm Beach police spent 11 months investigating Epstein before State Attorney Barry Krischer sent the case toa grand jury, instead of charging Epstein so the man who once boasted of accepting only billionaire clientscould face a trial. The police had taken a high school transcript, class schedules and phone messages fromEpstein's home that showed he knew the girls were underage. Yet Mr. Krischer was more swayed by Epstein'slawyers, who attempted to impugn the girls' character by showing they had chatted on myspace.com aboutsmoking marijuana and drinking. He should have let a jury decide whether the victims - and Epstein - werecredible.Ultimately, one charge against Epstein finally reflected the age of one victim, and the plea agreement leftEpstein labeled a sex offender. With that additional charge, if Epstein had been convicted at a trial, he couldhave been sentenced to anything from probation to 15 years in prison, Assistant State Attorney LannaBelohlavek said, adding that the recommended guideline sentence was 21 months.Epstein also won't have to certify to the court that he is receiving counseling, typically required of sexoffenders, because he has a private psychiatrist. But without court supervision, who will ensure Epstein is infact being treated?The plea deal also drops a federal investigation of Epstein. If a federal investigation was warranted, how doesdropping it before completion benefit the public?Epstein preyed on girls and denied it. For three years, his wealth and the influence of his lawyers bought himthe protection the state attorney owed to the victims.Police chief's reputation helps discredit attacksBy Larry KellerPalm Beach Post Staff WriterMonday, August 14, 2006In the case of Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Epstein, it seems, at times, as if two men are accused ofwrongdoing: Epstein and Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter.Epstein, 53, was indicted last month on a charge of felony solicitation of prostitution solely because of Reiter's"craziness," one of Epstein's lawyers said. His department disseminated "a distorted view of the case" andbehaved in a "childish" manner when the grand jury didn't indict Epstein on the charges it sought, anotherEpstein lawyer complained. To hear the Epstein camp tell it, Reiter, 48, is a loose cannon better suited to be thesheriff of Mayberry. They whisper that he's embroiled in a messy divorce.Reiter did in fact file for divorce from his wife, Jill, last year, after 24 years of marriage. They have a son, 18,and a daughter, 14. The couple is scheduled to go to mediation next week, Aug. 16. Nothing in the court filesuggests their split is particularly ugly.Reiter incurred the wrath of the Epstein camp as well as the state attorney's office for two reasons. First, hepressed for Epstein to be charged with the more serious crimes of sexual activity with minors. Second, heslammed State Attorney Barry Krischer in blunt language seldom used by one law-enforcement officialconcerning another because of what he perceived as that office's mishandling of the case.In a letter to Krischer written May 1, Reiter called his actions in the Epstein case "highly unusual." He added,"I must urge you to... consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from theprosecution of these cases."HOUSE OVERSIGHT 021791In short, Reiter told the county's top prosecutor for the past 13 years that he ought to get off the case. "It lookslike a departure from professionalism," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said ofReiter's letter.Following Epstein's indictment, Reiter referred the case to the FBI to determine whether the super-rich, super-connected defendant had violated any federal laws.Reiter won't discuss the case or the broadsides aimed at him. But others almost uniformly use one word todescribe the chief: professional."I have always been impressed by Mike's professionalism and his leadership," said Rick Lincoln, chief of theLantana Police Department and a Palm Beach County cop for 32 years."The town of Palm Beach has a very professional police department. We all consider Mike to be our peer and aman of integrity."Juno Beach Police Chief H.C. Clark II agreed. Although he doesn't know Reiter well, he has met with him oncountywide law enforcement issues. "I've never seen him lose his cool. I've never seen anything but aprofessional demeanor from him."Reiter joined the Palm Beach Police Department in 1981, leaving a $20,000-a-year patrol job at the Universityof Pittsburgh. His personnel jacket shows consistently excellent job evaluations.Posh Palm Beach is no hotbed of crime, and in his first year on the job, a resident confined to his home with asick child thanked Reiter for delivering a few Cokes to the house. Reiter refused payment for the beverages.Another resident thanked Reiter for shutting off his car's headlights in his driveway, saying a valet must havebeen at fault.Reiter worked everything from road patrol to organized crime, vice and narcotics. And he's no novice atinvestigations involving the island's rich and famous. He was the lead detective probing the drug overdosedeath of David Kennedy in 1984. He also was one of the officers who worked the investigation of WilliamKennedy Smith, who was charged in 1991 — and later acquitted — with raping a woman at the Kennedyfamily compound in Palm Beach.Reiter, who has a master's degree in human resource development from Palm Beach Atlantic University, alsohas attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., and management courses at Harvard. He's beenactive in countywide interagency law enforcement organizations and has a "top secret" national securityclearance."He has a perspective that's broader than just addressing the needs of the town," said Town Manager PeterElwell, who promoted Reiter from assistant chief to chief in March 2001. Reiter makes more than $144,000 asthe town's top cop. Elwell thinks he's worth it."He's very businesslike, very straightforward. He's not easily agitated or flamboyant. He's about the work,"Elwell said. "I think that his service as chief has been outstanding in five-plus years."--***********************************************************The information contained in this communication isconfidential, may be attorney-client privileged, mayconstitute inside information, and is intended only forthe use of the addressee. It is the property ofJeffrey EpsteinHOUSE OVERSIGHT 021792Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of thiscommunication or any part thereof is strictly prohibitedand may be unlawful. If you have received thiscommunication in error, please notify us immediately byreturn e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, anddestroy this communication and all copies thereof,including all attachments.--***********************************************************The information contained in this communication isconfidential, may be attorney-client privileged, mayconstitute inside information, and is intended only forthe use of the addressee. It is the property ofJeffrey EpsteinUnauthorized use, disclosure or copying of thiscommunication or any part thereof is strictly prohibitedand may be unlawful. If you have received thiscommunication in error, please notify us immediately byreturn e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, anddestroy this communication and all copies thereof,including all attachments.HOUSE OVERSIGHT 021793