PORTLAND (ME)
Press Herald
July 6, 2019
Prosecutors broke the law when they negotiated an agreement that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to avoid a trial, and the deal should be thrown out.
Private lawyers allowed sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein to escape justice. Epstein’s new defense team works for the federal government.
Billionaire money manager Jeffrey Epstein, center, in 2008, could have faced life in prison if federal prosecutors had pursued sex-crimes charges against him. Tribune News Service/Uma Sanghvi, The Palm Beach Post
The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia claimed last week that even though prosecutors in South Florida broke the law when they approved an outrageously light sentence for Epstein, the deal must stand. Byung Pak may not actually be on Epstein’s legal team, but he has placed the Department of Justice on Epstein’s side.
To review, Epstein is a billionaire money manager whose friends include President Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew. Between 1998 and 2006, Epstein recruited roughly three dozen underage girls – generally from poor and troubled families – to his house in Palm Beach and sexually abused them.
Epstein could have faced federal sex trafficking charges. He could have faced life in prison. Instead, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida – Alex Acosta, now Trump’s labor secretary – gave Epstein immunity on federal charges and allowed him to plead guilty to minor state charges. Then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer went along. Epstein served 13 months in jail – he was allowed out about half the time – and had to register with the state as a sex offender.
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