6 The Virgin Islands Daily News VIRGIN ISLANDS Wednesday, December 5, 2018 Jeffrey Epstein settles one suit, but more to come By CURT ANDERSON The Associated Press would expose some of the law that says crime victims must be informed as to why this happened," Frankel added lurid allegations against about plea bargains. Acosta has not commented about the case Epstein by putting some One of Epstein's lawyers, WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. A decade ago, Florida financier Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes involving underage girls and got 13 months behind bars. What the public and his accusers didn't know at the time was that he had secretly struck a deal with federal prosecutors that spared him from charges that could have put him away for the rest of his life. When the deal finally came to light years later, it immediately raised suspicions that Epstein a man who counted Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among his friends and had some of the finest legal talent in America as his lawyers had used his wealth and political connections to win special treatment. Epstein is also a resident of the Virgin Islands as owner of Little St. James Island off the East End of St. Thomas. He is listed on the VI. sex offender registry as a result of that 2008 Florida conviction. Allegations against him flared anew in recent weeks as news organizations, led by The Miami Herald, published interviews with the alleged victims and took a closer look at Alexander Acosta, who as the U.S. attorney in Miami in 2008 approved the secret deal. Acosta is now President Donald Trump's secretary of Labor. On Tuesday, a lawsuit that many had hoped of his accusers on the Roy Black, during the recent media coverage. He was asked has said there was no conspiracy to violate briefly about the non-prosecution agreement at stand ended abruptly in victims' rights, and the plea agreement was his Senate confirmation hearing. a settlement just as jury "no sweetheart deal selection about by any stretch of the "At the end of the day, based on the evidence, begin. imagination." professionals within a prosecutor's office But the Even if the plea bargain is nullified, the final decided that a plea that guarantees someone attempt to decision on bringing charges would rest solely goes to jail, that guarantees he register generally Jeffrey Epstein get to the bottom of the with the Justice Department. and guarantees other outcomes, is a good Epstein case and how he On Tuesday, Epstein settled a defamation thing. ." he said. managed to get such a light lawsuit brought against him by a lawyer for According to court papers, Epstein had a sentence is not over: Some of his accusers are some of the accusers, Bradley Edwards, who Palm Beach mansion where girls were brought pursuing a separate legal effort to nullify the said Epstein tried to derail his representation for what they were sometimes told were plea agreement and, they hope, expose him to of the women and ruin his career. In settling, massage sessions. He allegedly had female federal prosecution again. Epstein apologized and agreed to pay "That injustice needs to be addressed and undisclosed amount. an fixers who would look for suitable girls, some of them recruited from Eastern Europe and will be addressed." said Jack Scarola, one of the Edwards said some of the accusers - some other parts of the world. attorneys lined up against Epstein. "There is no of whom say they were 13 or 14 when they Before the scandal broke, Epstein was justification for the broad scope of immunity were molested were prepared to testify in friends with Trump and had visited the real that was granted." the lawsuit and may yet get their day in federal Epstein, 65, reached the non-prosecution deal estate developer's Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump court told interviewers that Epstein was "a great guy. with Acosta's office while under investigation "They're willing to talk. They want to share Records also show Clinton flew on Epstein's jet on suspicion of sexually abusing at least 40 their stories," Edwards said. more than two dozen times. teenage girls. Under the deal, he pleaded guilty Congressional Democrats are calling for an One young woman alleged in court to two state charges, did his time in jail, paid internal Justice Department investigation. documents that Epstein shared her with his settlements to many of the alleged victims and Rep. Lois Frankel, who represents the Palm friends, including Britain's Prince Andrew, a registered as a sex offender. He could have faced a far more severe Beacharea, said Tuesday that Epstein "allegedly charge denied by Buckingham Palace. had dozens and dozens of young, vulnerable Epstein's legal team at various times included penalty if federal prosecutors had pursued a women, young women taken to his house where such big names as Whitewater prosecutor draft 53-page indictment that was never filed they were sexually exploited." Kenneth Starr and Harvard professor Alan and included sex traflicking charges. "I think what has been equally shocking is Some of Epstein's accusers are now arguing what I call an extreme minimal punishment for Dershowitz. Neither Trump nor Clinton has been accused that their rights were trampled under a federal this man without really any public explanation of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Cancer Support Virgin Islands (CSVI) sponsored by International Capital & Management Company® provides financial assistance to U.S. Virgin Islands cancer patients. 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