Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld Original Message From: Villafana, Ann Marie C. (USAFLS) <[email protected]> To: Acosta, Alex (USAFLS) <[email protected]>; Sloman, Jeff (USAFLS) <[email protected]>; Garcia, Rolando (USAFLS) <[email protected]> CC: Atkinson, Karen (USAFLS) <[email protected]>; Lourie, Andrew (USAFLS) <[email protected]> Sent: Thu Sep 13 18:58:18 2007 Subject: Epstein plea Hi all - I have not heard back from any of Mr. Epstein's attorneys today about the plea, but I know that they are out for the holiday. I will be out tomorrow, so today I finished the indictment package if we decide to go forward. It currently is with Karen Atkinson. I then paged through Title 18, and came up with two possibilities. 18 U.S.C. § 403 is a misdemeanor with a one year statutory maximum for violation of the privacy rights of a child victim. We would have to show an intentional disclosure of documents or information concerning a child victim to someone other than a participant in the legal proceedings. When the state prosecution first hit the press, Epstein's attorneys (especially Roy Black) made statements about the "credibility" of some of the child victims, with specific identifying information, and I would base two charges on information disclosed about two of the victims. 18 U.S.C. § 1512(d) is also a misdemeanor with a one year statutory maximum. We would have to show that Epstein (or someone on his behalf) intentionally harassed another person to hinder, delay, prevent, or dissuade the person from reporting to a law enforcement officer the commission or possible commission of a federal offense, or to dissuade the person from causing a criminal prosecution to be sought or instituted. Three girls have mentioned exertions of pressure to keep them from reporting the offenses or talking to law enforcement. My guess is that he will object to these charges because he would have to plead to two counts, which would expose him to the potential of a 24-month sentence. If he does so, I recommend that we reconsider the Rule 11 plea rather than try to create violations out of whole cloth. I also determined that a defendant who receives a prison sentence on a misdemeanor offense is also eligible for one year of supervised release. Another option is a plea to 47 U.S.C. § 223(a)(1)(0), which prohibits someone "in interstate or foreign communications, by means of a telecommunications device knowingly -- . . (ii) initiates the transmission of any . . . . request, suggestion, proposal, . . . or other communication which is obscene . . . knowing that the recipient of the communication is under 18 years of age, regardless of whether the maker of such communication placed the call or initiated the communication." This is a felony offense, with a two-year statutory maximum. To move things along, I have put together an information package assuming a plea to two counts of violating section 403. I will leave that info with Karen as well, in case you want to make any changes tomorrow. Thank you. A. Marie Villafana Assistant U.S. Attorney 500 S. Australian Ave, Suite 400 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 34 EFTA00226150