DS9 Document EFTA00804083

1. Highly Inaccurate News Reporting— My understanding is that the offenses for which Epstein was convicted and the allegations against him during the investigation have been inaccurately reported and that the ages and numbers of the victims interviewed by investigators in this case were exaggerated. I can tell you first hand that news reports about Epstein's preferential treatment by the Sheriffs office after he was convicted are equally misinformed and completely untrue. 2. Equal Justice - For nearly four months, Epstein was held in a solitary confinement cell in a special housing unit that is usually reserved for dangerous prisoners, though Epstein posed no such danger. Before he was granted work release nearly four months later, Epstein was confined to the SHU for 23 hours a day and allowed 1 hour outside by himself in a confined fenced in area for physical activity. He ate alone and showered when we told him to in a separate locked shower cell. The SHU is not a pleasant place. 3. No Special Work Release Granted — Epstein was required to serve his sentence without work release for the same period of time required of all prisoners who ultimately qualify for work release. After he served his sentence for the required period of time, he applied for and was granted work release on the same terms and conditions as were available to all similarly situated prisoners. However, unlike other prisoners who left the jail and returned from work on their own recognizance, Epstein was kept under guard by a deputy from the time he left the jail until the time he returned. 4. No Preferential Release Date - Epstein's release from jail after 13 months was granted as a result of Epstein's good conduct based solely on the rules and regulations applicable to all prisoners. Based on those rules and regulations, the release date would have been the same for any prisoner with the same sentence and with the same record of good conduct. There was no preferential treatment. 5. State Case — it is my understanding the State case was extensively investigated for 15 months and brought to a grand jury which handed down one indictment against Epstein on a single count of solicitation of prostitution. Even the procurement charge to which Epstein subsequently plead was based on a single victim, who I understand was 16 or 17 years of age. There were certainly no charges of sex trafficking or pedophilia as reported in the press. 6. Local Prostitution - I also understand that the lead prosecutor for the State attorney in the Epstein case, a 13-year veteran of the Palm Beach County Sex Crimes Unit, personally interviewed many of the witnesses in this case, and she found that this was a case of local prostitution, nothing more and nothing less. 7. Balance from Available Transcripts - I have reviewed some of the available transcripts of sworn statements and deposition testimony in this case, in which witnesses said they lied to Epstein that they were 18 because they were told that Epstein would not allow anyone under 18 in his home, that they brought their best friends to Epstein's home after having visited him previously, and that they hoped nothing would happen to Epstein because "he really is an awesome man." As a career professional in the criminal justice system I obviously view these materials with a healthy degree of skepticism, but exclusion of such statements from press reports, only adds to what I already know about the extent of the unbalanced and inaccurate reporting in this case. EFTA00804083