Attorneys want Jeffrey Epstein agreement thrown out

Attorneys want Jeffrey Epstein agreement thrown out 4/7/11 1:37 PM I! Thursday, April 7, 2011 HOI/E I NEWS SOCIETY I BUSINESS I AI I CONTACT US Regster Now I Sign in I Envii preferences Renew CLASSIFIEDS I REAL ESTATE I DINING I SPECIAL SECTIONS I rESTYLES I HOWE d LOGGIA I SHINY SHOTS I SLOGS I ADVERTISE I S t" : PahnBea Dai New .corn Home > Palm Beach News Attorneys want Jeffrey Epstein agreement thrown out LATEST NEWS R Today: Thursday, April 7. 2011 P• Tat al Sea Gull Cottage to focus on gencrwics R Palm Beach Warren's International Film Festival debuts Thursday in support of women filmmakers l> Day Academy pupas revisit notable characters in Palm Beach history R Gov. Scott at Midtown Beach: 'Give me the list: he tells officials about beach concerns By MICHELE DARGAN DAV( NEWS STAFF WRITER Updated: 9:41 a.m. Wednesday. March 23. 2011 Posted: 7:21 p.m. Monday. Mardi 21. 2011 Ernst I Rint I Share I Larger Type Court papers filed Monday say the U.S. Attorney's Office violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act by signing a nonprosecution agreement with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein without notifying his victims. Attorneys Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, representing Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2. want a court hearing. where they will ask that the agreement be invalidated because, they say, the victims' rights were violated. If that happens, it could open up the 58-year-old Palm Beach billionaire to a slew of federal charges involving sex crimes with minors that were set aside by the agreement. The motion, filed Monday in federal court in West Palm Beach, accuses the U.S. Attorneys Office of deliberately misleading the victims by telling them the investigation was ongoing, while concealing they had already signed a deal with Epstein. According to the motion, the U.S. Attorneys Office sent 'false notification" letters in January 2008 and May 2008 to the victims saying "(t)his case is currently under investigation" after the government had signed the agreement with Epstein in September 2007. 'The only reason that the (U.S. Attorney's Office) concealed the existence of the non-prosecution agreement from the victims was not to comply with some legal restriction, but rather to avoid a firestorm of public controversy that would have erupted if the sweetheart plea deal with a politically connected billionaire had been revealed." the motion says. If Epstein were found guilty on federal charges. Statutory penalties ranged from 10 years to life. Instead. the sealed pact was part and parcel of Epstein's acceptance of a state plea deal, where he received an 18-month sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He served 13 months segregated in a vacant wing of the county stockade and was let out on work release six days a week for up to 16 hours a day. Edwards and other attorneys fought in court for a year before successfully getting the agreement unsealed in September 2009. More than 30 minor girls were identified as Epstein's victims in the pact. 241 La Puerta Way, Palm Beach Exquisitely designed Mediterranean Palm Bears- walled estate. a More Details 0 Site O web SEARCH . web Search by YAHOO? PALM BEACH ESTATE Corcoran .nmi in OWN OF PALM REACH 1911* CENTENNIAL • 20II la) Click here for the latest events! icb Find us on Facebook II Palm Beach Daily News Like 2,413 people like Palm Beach Daily News. Stanton •ckw Cadman, lames rirata* aortal Phan MOST RECENT ALBUMS Todd The Pan Beach Opera The Society of the Pomona Roland Fois Arts benefit Karts Diana http:/ /www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/attorneys-want-jeffrey-epstein-agreement-thrown-out-1338111.html Page 1 of 3 EFTA01199124 Attorneys want Jeffrey Epstein agreement thrown out 4/7/11 1:37 PM More • Doe 1 and 2. who were 14 and 13. respectively, at the time of the incidents. received monetary settlements in civil cases. They are among more than two-dozen underage girls who filed lawsuits or settled claims against Epstein. alleging they were lured to his Palm Beach mansion to give him sexually charged massages and/or sex in exchange for money. The motion filed Monday says the agreement is Illegal because the government did not protect the "Congressionally mandated rights of victims before it entered this agreement: Alicia Valle. special counsel for the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Florida. said in an e-mail that the U.S. Attorneys Office will respond in court filings. 'However, as we stated more than two years ago in July 2008 in our response to the plaintiffs' then-emergency petition for enforcement of the Crime Victim Rights Act, the CVRA was not violated because no federal charges were ever filed in the Southern District of Florida: Valle said. "Because the matter remains pending in court. It would be inappropriate at this time to provide additional comment on the merits of the current motion." The attorneys reference e-mails and letters from the federal office to Epstein's lawyers acknowledging the government's legal obligation to inform victims about the pact. The e-mails are redacted in the motion because they are under seal. The attorneys filed a separate motion Monday to unseal the correspondence. 'The reasonable inference from the evidence is that the U.S. Attorney's Office wanted to keep the agreement a secret to avoid intense criticism that would surely ensued had the victims and the public learned that a billionaire sex offender with political connections had arranged to avoid federal prosecution for numerous felony sex offenses against minor girls: the motion says. "As pan of this pattern of deception, the U.S. Attorney's Office discussed victim notification with the defendant sex offender and. after he raised objections, stopped making notifications." Epstein sought "a higher level of review" within the Department of Justice, the motion says. "A reasonable inference from the evidence is that Epstein used his significant political and social connections to lobby the Justice Department to avoid significant federal prosecution." the motion states. Share this ankle: COMMENTS Comments are closed HMS SOCIETY WEATIIM ARTS ADVERTISE SPECIAL SECTIONS Religion Meade.' veers Ms Maeda. SERVICES Palm leach Lie Archives Social Calendar Home A Loggia ProfilePalmBeach Polo OBITUARIES SubScriber Seevion /ruminative A YacM IMMO FASHION WU UMSTTLES IM/p 4 MO Locations Showcase Special Reports Teen Conned MOM. Calendar BUSINESS Anneuncemenes awes Mimi Ouide Semen in Reeler Feral Cal. OMIION BLOCS Mod wont. 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