File 031171
Justice Department Opens Epstein Plea Deal Investigation (File 031171)
News article reporting on the Department of Justice's investigation into federal prosecutors' handling of Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 plea deal, which resulted in minimal penalties for sexual abuse of teenage girls.
Summary
The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility announced an investigation into whether professional misconduct occurred in Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 non-prosecution plea deal negotiated by then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta. Epstein avoided federal charges involving at least 40 teenage girls and instead pleaded guilty to state charges, serving 13 months in jail. The investigation was prompted by Miami Herald articles and requests from Senator Ben Sasse, with victims pursuing legal efforts to nullify the agreement.
8 The Virgin Islands Daily NewsJustice Departmentopens Epstein probeThe Associated PressFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —The Justice Department has openedan investigation into federal prosecu-tors' handling of a plea deal in which awealthy, politically connected VirginIslands financier avoided potentiallysevere penalties for sexually abusingteenage girls in favor of a relativelylight state conviction in Florida.The depart-ment's Officeof ProfessionalResponsibilitywrote in a letterWednesday toUS. Sen. BenSasse, R-Nebras-ka, that it wouldexamine whetherprofessional mis- Jeffrey Epsteinconduct occurred in the highly publi-cized case of Jeffrey Epstein. The let-ter cited a series of recent articles bythe Miami Herald that focused newattention on how the deal came about.Sasse, a member of the SenateJudiciary Committee who has twiceasked the Justice Department to in-vestigate the case, welcomed thenews."Jeffrey Epstein is a child rapistand there's not a single mom or dad inAmerica who shouldn't be horrifiedby the fact that he received a patheti-cally soft sentence," Sasse said in anemail. "The victims of Epstein 's childsex trafficking ring deserve this inves-tigation — and so do the Americanpeople and members of law enforce-ment who work to put these kinds ofmonsters behind bars."Epstein, who also has homes inPalm Beach, Fla., and New York,lives on Little St. James Island off St.Thomas.Epstein, now 66, reached a non-prosecution deal in 2008 with then-Miami US. Attorney AlexanderAcosta's office to secretly end a fed-eral sex abuse investigation involvingat least 40 teenage girls that couldhave landed him behind bars for life.He instead pleaded guilty to statecharges, spent 13 months in jail, paidsettlements to victims and is a regis-tered sex offender.Acosta, now President DonaldTrump's labor secretary, has defend-ed the deal as appropriate but has notcommented since the recent round ofstories. He was asked about the caseduring his Senate confirmation hear-ings for the Cabinet post.Some of his accusers are pursuinga separate legal effort to nullify theplea agreement.