Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: The OIG Report Detailing The Investigation Into Epstein's NPA (Part 16-19) (7/22/26)

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Mega Edition: The OIG Report Detailing The Investigation Into Epstein's NPA (Part 16-19) (7/22/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein chronicles.
0:04
Speaker 1: In this episode, we're getting right back to the Epstein
0:07
Speaker 1: OIG report into the non prosecution agreement. See the evidence
0:13
Speaker 1: does not clearly show why the terms of incarceration was
0:16
Speaker 1: reduced from twenty four months to twenty months to eighteen months.
0:21
Speaker 1: OPR reviewed the contemporaneous records and asked Acosta, Villa Fauna,
0:25
Speaker 1: and Laurie to explain how the jail term Epstein would
0:28
Speaker 1: have to accept came to be reduced from two years
0:31
Speaker 1: to eighteen months. Laurie had no recollection of the process
0:35
Speaker 1: through which the term of incarceration was reduced. Vila Fauna
0:39
Speaker 1: and Acosta offered significantly different explanations. Fila Fauna told OPR
0:45
Speaker 1: we had this flip flop between is it going to
0:48
Speaker 1: be a state charge, is it going to be a
0:50
Speaker 1: federal charge? Is it going to be a state charge?
0:52
Speaker 1: Is it going to be a federal charge? And to
0:54
Speaker 1: get a federal charge, there was no way to do
0:57
Speaker 1: twenty four months that made any sense. So somehow it
1:00
Speaker 1: ended up being twenty months, and then it got to
1:03
Speaker 1: be eighteen months, and these were recalls that if I
1:06
Speaker 1: remember correctly, Jay Lefkowitz was having directly with alex Acosta,
1:10
Speaker 1: and alex Acosta agreed to eighteen months. Bilafana further explained
1:14
Speaker 1: to OPR regarding going from twenty four months to twenty months,
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Speaker 1: I recall a discussion that twenty four months of federal
1:21
Speaker 1: time was really twenty months after gain time, so Epstein
1:25
Speaker 1: should be allowed to plead to twenty months in the state.
1:28
Speaker 1: Epstein's council represented that he wouldn't get gain time like
1:32
Speaker 1: that in the state, and someone above me agreed. Later.
1:36
Speaker 1: Of course, as shown in the agreements, Epstein's council, Jay Lefkowitz,
1:39
Speaker 1: got Alex to agree that Epstein should be allowed to
1:42
Speaker 1: earn gain time in the state, so the twenty months
1:46
Speaker 1: in the state became at least seventeen months. Regarding going
1:49
Speaker 1: from twenty months to eighteen months, this came from a
1:52
Speaker 1: negotiation between Epstein's council and Nandy or Alex where the
1:56
Speaker 1: federal statutory max could only be twenty four or eighteen,
2:00
Speaker 1: so eighteen was agreed to. I also recall that after
2:03
Speaker 1: Epstein's council decided that they wanted to proceed with an
2:07
Speaker 1: NPA and only a state guilty plea I asked Alex
2:10
Speaker 1: why we didn't return to the twenty months, because the
2:13
Speaker 1: reason why we went to eighteen months was because that
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Speaker 1: was the only way to end up with a federal
2:18
Speaker 1: statutory maximum. However, a subsequent account of the history of
2:23
Speaker 1: negotiations with Epstein's attorneys, drafted by Villa Fauna for Acosta
2:27
Speaker 1: several weeks after the September twelfth, two thousand and seven,
2:31
Speaker 1: meeting with the State Attorney's office, stated that a significant
2:34
Speaker 1: compromise reached at the meeting was a reduction in the
2:37
Speaker 1: amount of jail time from the originally proposed twenty four
2:40
Speaker 1: months down to eighteen months, which would be served at
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Speaker 1: Palm Beach County Jail rather than a state prison facility.
2:47
Speaker 1: Acosta noted to OPR that Villa Fauna was engaged in
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Speaker 1: a tough negotiation and he was willing to allow her
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Speaker 1: the discretion to reduce the amount of incarceration time without
2:58
Speaker 1: him second guestinger cost acknowledge that he clearly approved it
3:02
Speaker 1: at some point. Based on this record, OPR could not
3:05
Speaker 1: definitively determine when, how or by whom the decision was
3:09
Speaker 1: made to reduce the required term of imprisonment from twenty
3:13
Speaker 1: four to eighteen months. It's possible that the reduction was
3:17
Speaker 1: connected to Epstein's effort to achieve a result that would
3:20
Speaker 1: allow him to serve his time in a counting facility,
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Speaker 1: but it may also have resulted from the party's attempts
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Speaker 1: to reach agreements on federal charges that would not result
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Speaker 1: in a sentence of incarceration greater than what had been
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Speaker 1: discussed with respect to state charges. In the end, the
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Speaker 1: evidence shows that Acosta approved a reduced term of incarceration
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Speaker 1: from twenty four months to eighteen months, and the USAO
3:44
Speaker 1: understood at the time that the state gain time requirement
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Speaker 1: would further reduce the actual amount of time Epstein would
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Speaker 1: spend incarcerated. D The parties continue to negotiate, but primarily
3:56
Speaker 1: focus on a potential plea to federal charges. During the
3:59
Speaker 1: remains of September, Villa Fauna conducted plea negotiations and drafted
4:04
Speaker 1: the final NPA, mainly with Epstein's attorney, Jay Lefkowitz. In
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Speaker 1: a September thirteenth, two thousand and seven, email to CEOs
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Speaker 1: chief Asterbond, Villafana reported that the plea negotiations were getting
4:16
Speaker 1: fast and furious. She said that the defense wanted to
4:19
Speaker 1: establish a victim's fund through which Epstein could make payments
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Speaker 1: to the victims, rather than having the victims file individual
4:26
Speaker 1: Section twenty two to fifty five court actions for damages,
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Speaker 1: which she speculated was to keep this stuff out of
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Speaker 1: the public court files. According to the email documentation, by Friday,
4:37
Speaker 1: September fourteenth, two thousand and seven, the parties had moved
4:40
Speaker 1: toward a hybrid federal plea agreement incorporating a plea to
4:43
Speaker 1: state charges, which would allow Epstein to serve as sentence
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Speaker 1: for all the charges concurrently in a federal prison. Villa
4:50
Speaker 1: Fauna informed a Costa, Sloman, Lori and other colleagues the
4:53
Speaker 1: negotiations with left Kowitz had resulted in a tentative agreement
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Speaker 1: for Epstein to plead to two federal charge harassment to
5:01
Speaker 1: prevent a witness from reporting a crime US Code eighteen
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Speaker 1: section fifteen twelve D two, which was then a one
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Speaker 1: year misdemeanor, and simple assault on an airplane US Code
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Speaker 1: eighteen Section one thirteen A five, a six month misdemeanor.
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Speaker 1: Villafana reported that Lefkowitz put in a pitch for only
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Speaker 1: twelve months. I put in a pitch that Epstein plead
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Speaker 1: to twenty four with a twenty month recommendation, and we
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Speaker 1: decided that we would be stuck with the eighteen months.
5:29
Speaker 1: Later that day, Villa Fauna said to Lefkowitz a draft
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Speaker 1: hybrid plea agreement and information mirroring the agreement in principle
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Speaker 1: that she had described to her supervisors, but which she
5:40
Speaker 1: noted had not yet been blessed by them. The agreement
5:43
Speaker 1: provided that Epstein would plead guilty to the two federal charges,
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Speaker 1: for which the parties would jointly recommend that he would
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Speaker 1: be sentenced to the statutory maximum penalty of eighteen months
5:54
Speaker 1: followed by two years a supervised release, and that he
5:58
Speaker 1: would also plead guilty to the state registerable offense of
6:01
Speaker 1: procurement of miners to engage in prostitution, for which Epstein
6:05
Speaker 1: in the State Attorney's office would make a joint binding
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Speaker 1: recommendation that he'd be sentenced to serve at least twenty
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Speaker 1: months in prison, followed by ten months the community's control
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Speaker 1: home confinement. Although not specified in the draft agreement, the
6:18
Speaker 1: negotiations evidently expected the federal and state terms would run concurrently.
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Speaker 1: In addition to payment of restitution, Epstein would not oppose
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Speaker 1: jurisdiction of victim status for any of the victims identified
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Speaker 1: in the federal investigation at that point, specified as numbering
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Speaker 1: forty who elected the file suit for damages under US
6:38
Speaker 1: Code eighteen, section twenty two to fifty five. Laurie, however,
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Speaker 1: quickly made clear that he was not in favor of
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Speaker 1: that proposal. In response to Villafauna's email about the potential
6:48
Speaker 1: federal charges, but after Villafauna sent the proposal to Lefkowitz,
6:51
Speaker 1: Lourie told her the assault charge sounds like a stretch
6:54
Speaker 1: and factually is sort of silly. Louri also told Slowman,
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Speaker 1: A Costa, and another supervisor that he did not like
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Speaker 1: the assault charge and believed that it would not go
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Speaker 1: smooth and every judge. A Costa responded, if we need,
7:08
Speaker 1: let's find a different charge. On Saturday, September fifteenth, two
7:12
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, Villa Fauna emailed Leftkowitz using her personal
7:16
Speaker 1: email address, reporting that she had gotten some negative reaction
7:19
Speaker 1: to the assault charge and suggesting a different factual scenario
7:23
Speaker 1: to support a federal charge. At this point, Slowman left
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Speaker 1: on vacation, and he informed Acosta in Villa Fauna that
7:30
Speaker 1: in his absence, Lourie had agreed to help finalize this.
7:33
Speaker 1: Laurie spent the following work week at his new post
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Speaker 1: at the Department in Washington, d C. But communicated with
7:40
Speaker 1: his USAO colleagues by phone and email. In a Sunday
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Speaker 1: September sixteenth, two thousand and seven, email, Villa Fauna informed
7:48
Speaker 1: left Kwitz that she had drafted a factual proffer to
7:51
Speaker 1: accompany a revised hybrid federal plea proposal. In that email,
7:55
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna also noted that she was considering filing charges
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Speaker 1: in the Federal days District Court in Miami, which will
8:01
Speaker 1: hopefully cut the press coverage significantly. This email received considerable
8:06
Speaker 1: attention twelve years later when it was made public during
8:09
Speaker 1: the CVRA litigation, and was viewed as evidence of the
8:12
Speaker 1: usao's efforts to conceal the NPA from the victims. Villa Fauna, however,
8:18
Speaker 1: explained to OPR that she concerned that news media coverage
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Speaker 1: would violate the victim's privacy. She told OPR, if the
8:25
Speaker 1: victims wanted to attend the plea hearing, I wanted them
8:28
Speaker 1: to be able to go into the courthouse without their
8:30
Speaker 1: faces being splashed all over the newspaper, and that such
8:34
Speaker 1: publicity was less likely to happen in Miami, where the
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Speaker 1: press in general does not care about what happens in
8:40
Speaker 1: Palm Beach. Lefkowitz responded to Villa Fauna with a revised
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Speaker 1: version of her latest proposed hybrid plea agreement in a
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Speaker 1: document entitled Agreement Significantly, the defense proposal introduced two new provisions.
8:53
Speaker 1: The first related to four female assistants who had allegedly
8:56
Speaker 1: facilitated Epstein in his criminal scheme. The defense sought a
9:00
Speaker 1: government promise not to prosecute them, as well as certain
9:04
Speaker 1: other unnamed Epstein employees, and the promise to forego immigration
9:08
Speaker 1: proceedings against two of the female assistants. Epstein fulfilling the
9:13
Speaker 1: terms and conditions of the agreement also precludes the initiation
9:17
Speaker 1: of any and all criminal charges which might otherwise in
9:21
Speaker 1: the future be brought against four named female assistants or
9:25
Speaker 1: any employee of a specific Epstein owned corporate entity for
9:29
Speaker 1: any criminal charge that arises out of the ongoing federal investigation. Further,
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Speaker 1: no immigration proceeding will be instituted against two named female
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Speaker 1: assistants as a result of the ongoing investigation. The second
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Speaker 1: new provision related to the usao's efforts to obtain Epstein's computers.
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Speaker 1: Epstein fulfilling the terms and conditions of the agreement resolves
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Speaker 1: any and all outstanding legal process that have requested witness, testimony,
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Speaker 1: and or production of documents and or computers in relation
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Speaker 1: to the investigation that is the subject of the agreement.
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Speaker 1: Each legal process will be withdrawn upon the execution of
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Speaker 1: the agreement, and it will not be reissued absent reliable
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Speaker 1: evidence of a violation of the agreement. Epstein and his
10:12
Speaker 1: council agree that the computers that are currently under the
10:15
Speaker 1: legal process will be safeguarded in their current condition by
10:18
Speaker 1: Epstein's council or their agents until the terms and conditions
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Speaker 1: of the agreements are fulfilled. Later that day, Villa Fauna
10:26
Speaker 1: sent left Kowitz a lengthy email to convey two options.
10:29
Speaker 1: Lourie had suggested the original proposal for a state plea,
10:32
Speaker 1: but with an agreement for an eighteen month sentence or
10:36
Speaker 1: please to stay charges and to federal obstruction of justice charges.
10:40
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna also told Lefkowitz she was willing to ask
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Speaker 1: Acosta again to approve a federal plea to a five
10:47
Speaker 1: year conspiracy with Rule elevency binding recommendation for a twenty
10:52
Speaker 1: month sentence. Villa Fauna explained as to the timing, it's
10:56
Speaker 1: my understanding that mister Epstein needs to be sentenced in
10:59
Speaker 1: the state after he is sentenced in the federal case,
11:02
Speaker 1: but not that he needs to plead guilty and be
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Speaker 1: sentenced after serving his federal time. And he recommended that
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Speaker 1: some of the timing issues be addressed only in the
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Speaker 1: state agreement, so that it is an obvious to the
11:14
Speaker 1: judge that we are trying to create federal jurisdiction for
11:17
Speaker 1: prison purposes. With regard to the prosecution of individuals other
11:21
Speaker 1: than Epstein, Vila Fauna suggested standard federal plea agreement language
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Speaker 1: regarding the resolution of all criminal liability, and I will
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Speaker 1: mention co conspirators, but I would prefer not the highlight
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Speaker 1: for the judge all of the other crimes and all
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Speaker 1: of the other persons that we could charge. Villafauna told
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Speaker 1: OPR that she was willing to include a non prosecution
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Speaker 1: provision for Epstein's co conspirators, who at the time she
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Speaker 1: understood to be the four women named in the proposed agreement,
11:49
Speaker 1: because the USAO was not interested in prosecuting those individuals
11:53
Speaker 1: if Epstein entered a plea. Vilafauna told OPR, we considered
11:57
Speaker 1: Epstein to be the top of the food chain, and
11:59
Speaker 1: we wouldn't have been interested in prosecuting anyone else. She
12:03
Speaker 1: did not consider the possibility that Epstein might be trying
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Speaker 1: to protect other unnamed individuals, and no one, including the
12:09
Speaker 1: FBI case agents, raise that concern. Villa Fauna also told
12:13
Speaker 1: OPR that her reference to all of the other crimes
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Speaker 1: and all of the other persons that we could charge
12:18
Speaker 1: related to her concern that if the plea agreement contained
12:21
Speaker 1: information about uncharged conduct, the court might ask for more
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Speaker 1: information about the conduct and inquire why it had not
12:29
Speaker 1: been charged, and if the government provided such information, Epstein's
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Speaker 1: attorneys might claim the agreement was breached. With regard to immigration,
12:37
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna told OPR that the USAO generally did not
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Speaker 1: take any position in plea agreements on immigration issues, and
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Speaker 1: that in this case, there is no evidence that either
12:46
Speaker 1: of the two assistants, who were foreign nationals, had committed
12:49
Speaker 1: fraud in connection with their immigration paperwork, and I think
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Speaker 1: that they were both in status, so there wasn't any
12:55
Speaker 1: reason for them to be deported as to whether the
12:58
Speaker 1: foreign nationals would be removable by virtue of having committed crimes,
13:03
Speaker 1: Villafana told OPR she did not consider her role as
13:06
Speaker 1: seeking removal apart from actual prosecution. Villa Fauna concluded her
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Speaker 1: email to left Kowitz by expressing disappointment that they were
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Speaker 1: not closer to resolving this than it appears that we are,
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Speaker 1: and offering to meet the next workday on the agreement.
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Speaker 1: Can I suggest that tomorrow we either meet live or
13:23
Speaker 1: via teleconference, either with your client or having him within
13:26
Speaker 1: a quick phone call to hash out these items. I
13:29
Speaker 1: was hoping to work only a half day tomorrow to
13:31
Speaker 1: save my voice for Tuesday's hearing if necessary, but maybe
13:35
Speaker 1: we can set a time to meet. If you want
13:37
Speaker 1: to meet off campus somewhere, that's fine. I will make
13:41
Speaker 1: sure that I have all the necessary decision makers present
13:44
Speaker 1: or on call as well. Villa Fanna told OPR that
13:48
Speaker 1: she offered to meet left Kowitz away from the USAO
13:51
Speaker 1: because conducting negotiations via email was inefficient and Villa Fanna
13:55
Speaker 1: wanted to have a meeting where she sat down and
13:58
Speaker 1: just finalized things. And what I meant by off campuses
14:01
Speaker 1: sometimes people feel better if you go to a neutral
14:04
Speaker 1: location for a face to face meeting. On the morning
14:07
Speaker 1: of Monday, September seventeenth, two thousand and seven, the USAO supervisor,
14:11
Speaker 1: who was taking over Lori's duties as manager of the
14:14
Speaker 1: West Pond Beach office, asked Villa Fauna for an update
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Speaker 1: on the plea negotiations, and she forward to him the
14:20
Speaker 1: email she had sent to left Kowitz the previous afternoon.
14:23
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna told the manager, as you can see, there
14:26
Speaker 1: are a number of things in their last draft that
14:28
Speaker 1: were unacceptable, all of the loopholes that I sewed up
14:31
Speaker 1: that they tried to open. Shortly thereafter, Villa Fauna alerted
14:35
Speaker 1: the new manager, Acosta, and Laurie that she had just
14:38
Speaker 1: spoken with Lef Kowitz, who advised that Epstein was leaning
14:41
Speaker 1: towards a plea to stay charges under a non prosecution
14:45
Speaker 1: agreement and she would be forwarding to left Kowitz our
14:48
Speaker 1: last version of the non prosecution agreement. Acosta asked that
14:52
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna make sure that they know it's only a
14:54
Speaker 1: draft and reminded her that the form and language may
14:58
Speaker 1: need polishing. Fauna responded, absolutely, there were a lot of
15:02
Speaker 1: problems with their last attempt. They tried to reopen all
15:05
Speaker 1: of the loopholes that I had sown shut. Villa Fauna
15:08
Speaker 1: sent to Leftkowitz the draft NPA that she had provided
15:11
Speaker 1: to left Court on September eleventh, two thousand and seven,
15:14
Speaker 1: noting that it was the last version and would avoid
15:17
Speaker 1: him having to reinvent the wheel. She also updated the
15:20
Speaker 1: FBI case agents on the status of negotiations, noting that
15:24
Speaker 1: she had told her chain of command that we are
15:27
Speaker 1: still on for the September twenty fifth meeting to bring
15:30
Speaker 1: charges no matter what. After receiving the draft NPA, left
15:34
Speaker 1: Kowitz asked Villa Fauna to provide for his review a
15:37
Speaker 1: factual proffer for a federal obstruction of justice charge, and
15:41
Speaker 1: with that respect to the NPA, option asked, if we
15:44
Speaker 1: will go that route, would you intend to make the
15:46
Speaker 1: deferred prosecution agreement public? Villafana applied that while a federal
15:51
Speaker 1: plea agreement would be part of the court file and
15:53
Speaker 1: publicly accessible, the NPA would not be made public or
15:57
Speaker 1: filed with the court, but it would remain part of
15:59
Speaker 1: our case file. It probably would be subject to an
16:03
Speaker 1: FOIA Freedom of Information Act request, but it's not something
16:07
Speaker 1: that we would distribute without compulsory process. Vilafanna told OPR
16:11
Speaker 1: that she believed Epstein did not want the NPA to
16:14
Speaker 1: be made public because he did not want people to
16:17
Speaker 1: believe him to have committed a variety of crimes. As
16:20
Speaker 1: she explained to OPR, Villafana believed the NPA did not
16:24
Speaker 1: need to be disclosed in its entirety, but she anticipated
16:27
Speaker 1: notifying the victims about the NPA provisions relating to their
16:31
Speaker 1: ability to recover damages. All right, we're going to wrap
16:35
Speaker 1: up this episode here and in the next episode, we're
16:37
Speaker 1: going to pick up where we left off, and that's
16:39
Speaker 1: with E. The parties appear to reach agreement on a
16:42
Speaker 1: plea to federal charges. All of the information that goes
16:46
Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.
16:49
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein chronicles.
16:53
Speaker 1: In this episode, we're getting right back to the OIG
16:56
Speaker 1: report into the Jeffrey Evstein non prosecutor Agreement. E. The
17:02
Speaker 1: parties appear to reach agreement on a plea to federal charges.
17:06
Speaker 1: Negotiations continued the next day, Tuesday, September eighteenth, two thousand
17:10
Speaker 1: and seven, responding to Villa Fauna's revised draft of the NPA.
17:14
Speaker 1: Lefkowitz suggested that Epstein plead the one federal charge with
17:18
Speaker 1: a twelve month sentence, followed by a one year of
17:21
Speaker 1: supervised release with a requirement for home detention, and two
17:24
Speaker 1: years of state probation, with the first six months of
17:27
Speaker 1: the state sentence to be served under community control. Villafana replied,
17:32
Speaker 1: I know that the US attorney will not go below
17:35
Speaker 1: eighteen months of prison jail time, and I would strongly
17:38
Speaker 1: oppose the suggestion. Shortly thereafter, Villa Fauna email DaCosta Lori
17:42
Speaker 1: and the incoming West Palm Beach manager Hiaul. I think
17:46
Speaker 1: that we may be near the end of our negotiations
17:48
Speaker 1: with mister Epstein, and not because we have reached a resolution.
17:52
Speaker 1: As I mentioned yesterday, I spent twelve hours over the
17:55
Speaker 1: weekend drafting informations, changing plea agreements, and writing factual I
18:01
Speaker 1: was supposed to receive a draft agreement from them yesterday,
18:03
Speaker 1: which never arrived. At that time, they were leaning towards
18:07
Speaker 1: pleading only to stay charges and doing all of the
18:10
Speaker 1: time in state custody. Late last night I talked to
18:13
Speaker 1: Jay Lefkowitz, who asked about Epstein pleading to two twelve
18:16
Speaker 1: month federal charges, with half of his jail time being
18:19
Speaker 1: spent in home confinement pursuant to the guidelines. I told
18:23
Speaker 1: him that I had no objection to that approach, but
18:26
Speaker 1: in the interest of full disclosure, I did not believe
18:28
Speaker 1: that mister Epstein would be eligible because he will not
18:31
Speaker 1: be in Zone A or Zone B. This morning, Jay
18:35
Speaker 1: Lefkowitz called and said that I was correct, but if
18:39
Speaker 1: we could get mister Epstein down the fourteen months, then
18:41
Speaker 1: he thought he would be eligible. My response have him
18:45
Speaker 1: pleaded the two separate informations. On the first one he
18:48
Speaker 1: gets twelve months imprisonment, and on the second he gets
18:51
Speaker 1: twelve months with six served in home confinement, to run consecutively.
18:56
Speaker 1: I just received an email asking if mister Epstein could
18:59
Speaker 1: do to twelve months imprisonmen instead. As you can see,
19:02
Speaker 1: mister Epstein is having second thoughts about doing jail time.
19:06
Speaker 1: I would like to send Jay Lefkowitz an email stating
19:08
Speaker 1: that if we do not have assigned agreement by tomorrow
19:11
Speaker 1: at five, negotiations will end. I have selected tomorrow at
19:15
Speaker 1: five because it gives them enough time to really negotiate
19:18
Speaker 1: an agreement. If they are serious about it and if not,
19:21
Speaker 1: it gives me a day before the Jewish holiday to
19:24
Speaker 1: get prepared for Tuesday, September twenty fifth, when I planned
19:28
Speaker 1: the file charges, and it gives the office sufficient time
19:31
Speaker 1: to review the indictment package. Do you concur A few
19:34
Speaker 1: minutes later, the incoming West Palm Beach manager emailed Lourie,
19:38
Speaker 1: suggesting that Lori talked to Abstein and close the deal.
19:41
Speaker 1: Within moments, Lourie replied to the manager with a copy
19:44
Speaker 1: to Villafauna, reporting that he had just spoken with Lefkowitz
19:48
Speaker 1: and agreed to two federal obstruction charges twenty four month
19:51
Speaker 1: cap with non binding recommendation for eighteen months. When Epstein
19:56
Speaker 1: gets out, he has to plead to state offenses, including
19:59
Speaker 1: against minor registerable, and then take one year house arrest
20:03
Speaker 1: community confinement. By reply email, Villa Fauna asked Lourie to
20:07
Speaker 1: call her, but there is no record of whether they spoke.
20:11
Speaker 1: F Defense counsel offers new proposal substantially changing the terms
20:16
Speaker 1: of the federal plea agreement, which the USAO rejects. Approximately
20:21
Speaker 1: an hour after Lori's email reporting the deal he had
20:24
Speaker 1: reached with left Kowitz left. Kuwitz sent Villafauna a revised
20:27
Speaker 1: draft Plea agreement. Despite the agreement Lourie believed he and
20:31
Speaker 1: left Kowitz had reached that morning. Left kowitz proposal would
20:34
Speaker 1: have resulted in a sixteen month federal sentence followed by
20:38
Speaker 1: eight months of supervised release served in the form of
20:41
Speaker 1: home detention. Left Kowitz also inserted a statement in his
20:45
Speaker 1: proposal explicitly prohibiting the USAO from requesting, initiating, or encouraging
20:51
Speaker 1: immigration authorities to institute immigration proceedings against two of Epstein's
20:56
Speaker 1: female assistants. Villa Fauna circulated the Defense proposed plea agreement
21:01
Speaker 1: to Lori and to other supervisors and expressed frustration that
21:05
Speaker 1: the new Defense version incorporated terms that were completely different
21:08
Speaker 1: from what Jay just told Andy they would agree to.
21:12
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna also pointed out that the Defense wants us
21:15
Speaker 1: to recommend an improper calculation on the sentencing guidelines, and
21:19
Speaker 1: they added language waiving the preparation of a pre sentenced
21:23
Speaker 1: investigation so he can keep all of his information confidential.
21:27
Speaker 1: I have already told Jay that the PSI language was
21:30
Speaker 1: unacceptable from our office of even greater significance than a
21:34
Speaker 1: follow up email. Villa Fauna noted that the Defense had
21:37
Speaker 1: removed both the requirement that Epstein plead to a registrable
21:41
Speaker 1: offense and the entire provision relating to monetary damages under
21:45
Speaker 1: US Code eighteen, section twenty two fifty five. In the afternoon,
21:50
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna circulated her own proposed hybrid plea agreement, first
21:54
Speaker 1: internally to the management team with a note stating that
21:57
Speaker 1: it contains the eighteen and a half split that Jay
22:00
Speaker 1: and Andy agree to, and then to left Kowitz. Regarding
22:04
Speaker 1: the prosecution of other individuals, she included the following provision.
22:08
Speaker 1: This agreement resolves the federal criminal liability of the defendant
22:12
Speaker 1: and any co conspirators in the Southern District of Florida,
22:15
Speaker 1: growing out of any criminal conduct by those persons known
22:18
Speaker 1: to the USAO as of the date of this plea agreement,
22:21
Speaker 1: including but not limited to, conspiracy to solicit miners to
22:25
Speaker 1: engage in prostitution. In her email to lef Kowitz transmitting
22:29
Speaker 1: the plea agreement, Villafano wrote, could you share the attached
22:32
Speaker 1: draft with your colleagues? It is in keeping with Andy's
22:36
Speaker 1: communicated to me was the operative deal. The US Attorney
22:39
Speaker 1: hasn't had a chance to review all the languages but
22:42
Speaker 1: he agrees with it in principle. The West Palm Beach
22:45
Speaker 1: Manager and I will both be available at two. One
22:48
Speaker 1: of my suggestions is going to be again that we
22:51
Speaker 1: all sit down together in the same room, including Barry
22:54
Speaker 1: Krisher and lor Lana Bellohovlik, so we can hush out
22:57
Speaker 1: all of the still existing issues in and get ourselves
23:00
Speaker 1: as signed document. Villa Fauna also emailed Acosta directly telling
23:05
Speaker 1: him she planned to me with Epstein's attorneys to work
23:07
Speaker 1: on the plea agreement and asking if Acosta would be
23:10
Speaker 1: available to provide final approval. A Costa replied, I don't
23:14
Speaker 1: think I should be part of negotiations. I'd rather leave
23:17
Speaker 1: it to you, if that's okay. A Costa told OPR
23:20
Speaker 1: that absent truly exceptional circumstances, he believed it was important
23:24
Speaker 1: for him to not get involved in negotiations, and added,
23:27
Speaker 1: you can meet like I did in September to reaffirm
23:30
Speaker 1: the position of the office and back your ausa, but
23:34
Speaker 1: ultimately I think your trial lawyer needs discretion to do
23:37
Speaker 1: their job. Bila Fauna told OPR, however, that she did
23:41
Speaker 1: not understand Acosta to be giving her discretion to conduct
23:44
Speaker 1: the negotiations that she saw fit. Rather, she believed Acosta
23:48
Speaker 1: did not want to engage in face to face negotiations
23:51
Speaker 1: because he wanted to have an appearance of having sort
23:53
Speaker 1: of an arm's length from the deal. Villa Fauna replied
23:56
Speaker 1: to Acosta's message, that's fine. The West Palm Beach and
24:00
Speaker 1: I will nail everything down. We just want to get
24:02
Speaker 1: a final blessing. Negotiations continue throughout the day on Wednesday,
24:06
Speaker 1: September nineteenth, two thousand and seven, with Villafauna and left
24:10
Speaker 1: Kowitz exchanging emails regarding the factual profit for a plea
24:14
Speaker 1: and the scheduling of a meeting to finalize the plea
24:16
Speaker 1: agreement's terms. During the exchange, villa Fauna made clear to
24:20
Speaker 1: left Kowitz that the time for negotiating terms was reaching
24:24
Speaker 1: an end. I hate to have to be firm about this,
24:26
Speaker 1: but we need to wrap this up by Monday. I
24:29
Speaker 1: will not miss September twenty five, charging date when this
24:31
Speaker 1: is dragged on for several weeks already, and then if
24:34
Speaker 1: things fall apart, be left in a less advantageous position
24:37
Speaker 1: than before the negotiations. I have an eighty two page
24:41
Speaker 1: prosecution memo and a fifty three page indictment sitting on
24:44
Speaker 1: the shelf. Since May to engage in these negotiations, there
24:48
Speaker 1: has to be an ending date, and that date is Monday.
24:52
Speaker 1: Early that afternoon, Lorie, who participated in the week's negotiations
24:56
Speaker 1: from his new post in the Department in Washington, DC,
25:00
Speaker 1: asked Villa Fauna to furnish him with the last draft
25:02
Speaker 1: of the plea agreement she had sent to the Defense Council,
25:06
Speaker 1: and she provided him with an eighteen twelve split draft
25:10
Speaker 1: that she had sent to Lefkowitz the prior afternoon. After
25:13
Speaker 1: reviewing the draft, Lourie told Villa Fauna it was a
25:16
Speaker 1: good job, but he questioned certain provisions, including whether the
25:20
Speaker 1: usao's agreement to suspend the investigation and hold all legal
25:24
Speaker 1: process in abeyance should be in the plea agreement. Villa
25:28
Speaker 1: Fauna told Lori that she added that paragraph at the
25:31
Speaker 1: insistence of the Defense and opined, I don't think it
25:33
Speaker 1: hurts us. Villa Fauna explained to OPR that she held
25:37
Speaker 1: this view because Alex and people above me had already
25:40
Speaker 1: made the decision that if the case was resolved, we
25:43
Speaker 1: weren't going to get the computer equipment. At three forty
25:46
Speaker 1: four PM that afternoon Leftkowitz email the redline version of
25:50
Speaker 1: the federal plea agreement showing his new revisions, and noted
25:54
Speaker 1: that he was working on a deferred prosecution agreement because
25:57
Speaker 1: it may well be that we cannot reach agreement here.
26:00
Speaker 1: The Defense red line version required Epstein to plead guilty
26:04
Speaker 1: to a federal information charging two misdemeanor counts of an
26:07
Speaker 1: attempt to intentionally harass a person to prevent testimony, depending
26:11
Speaker 1: state indictment charging solicitation of prostitution, and the state information
26:16
Speaker 1: charging one count of coercing a person to become a
26:19
Speaker 1: prostitute in violation of Florida Statute Section seven ninety six
26:23
Speaker 1: dot four without regard to the age. Neither of the
26:27
Speaker 1: proposed state offenses required sexual offender registration. Epstein would need
26:32
Speaker 1: to serve an eighteen month sentence and a concurrent sixty
26:35
Speaker 1: months on probation on the state charges. The red line
26:38
Speaker 1: version again deleted the provisions relating to damages under US
26:42
Speaker 1: Code eighteen, section twenty two fifty five and replaced it
26:45
Speaker 1: with the provisions requiring creation of a trust administered by
26:49
Speaker 1: the state court. It retained language proposed Bible La Fauna
26:53
Speaker 1: providing that plea agreement resolves the federal criminal liability of
26:57
Speaker 1: the defendant and any co conspirators in the Southern Day
27:00
Speaker 1: strict to Florida, growing out of any criminal conduct by
27:03
Speaker 1: those persons known to the USAO as of the date
27:06
Speaker 1: of this plea agreement, but also reinserted the provision promising
27:10
Speaker 1: not to prosecute Epstein's assistance and the statement prohibiting the
27:14
Speaker 1: USAO from requesting, initiating, or encouraging immigration proceedings. It also
27:20
Speaker 1: included a provision stating the government's agreement to forego a
27:23
Speaker 1: sentence in investigation and promise the government to suspend the
27:27
Speaker 1: investigation and withdraw all pending legal processes. All right, We're
27:33
Speaker 1: going to end this episode right here, and in the
27:35
Speaker 1: next episode we're going to pick up with g Villa, Fauna,
27:38
Speaker 1: and Lori recommend ending negotiations, but Acosta urges that they
27:42
Speaker 1: try to work it out. All of the information that
27:46
Speaker 1: goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
27:50
Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
27:54
Speaker 1: In this episode, we're getting right back to the OIG
27:57
Speaker 1: report that was filed in relation to the Jeffrey Epstein
28:01
Speaker 1: non prosecution agreement g Villa Fauna and Lourie recommend ending negotiations,
28:07
Speaker 1: but Acosta urges that they try to work it out.
28:11
Speaker 1: In the late afternoon of Wednesday, September nineteenth, two thousand
28:14
Speaker 1: and seven, Villa Fauna expressed her increasing frustration to her supervisors.
28:19
Speaker 1: She emailed the Defense redline version of the Plea agreement
28:22
Speaker 1: to LORII and the incoming West Palm Beach manager, identifying
28:26
Speaker 1: all the provisions she had specifically discussed with the defense
28:29
Speaker 1: team and rejected that they had reinserted into the agreement.
28:34
Speaker 1: Villa Fauna opined, this is not a good faith negotiation.
28:37
Speaker 1: Lourie responded that he would reach out to Alex to
28:40
Speaker 1: discuss Lourie immediately emailed the cost of the following I
28:45
Speaker 1: looked at the latest draft from Jay Lefkowitz, and I
28:47
Speaker 1: must agree with Marie based on my own conversations with them.
28:51
Speaker 1: His draft is out of left field. He claims to
28:54
Speaker 1: orally agree to our terms and then sends us a
28:56
Speaker 1: document that is the opposite. I suggest we simply tell
29:00
Speaker 1: him that his counter offer is rejected and that we
29:03
Speaker 1: intend to move forward with our case. Acosta replied, why
29:07
Speaker 1: don't we just call him and tell them One you
29:09
Speaker 1: agree and then change things. Two that's not acceptable and
29:13
Speaker 1: it's in bad faith, stop it or will indict. Three
29:16
Speaker 1: try to work it out. It seems that we are close,
29:19
Speaker 1: and it's worth trying to overcome what has to be
29:21
Speaker 1: painfully annoying negotiating tactics. Acosta told the OPR that he
29:26
Speaker 1: recognized this negotiation was a pain, but if it was
29:29
Speaker 1: right position, the fact that you've got annoying counsel on
29:33
Speaker 1: the other side doesn't make it less of a right position.
29:36
Speaker 1: You tell them to stop being annoying, You try to
29:38
Speaker 1: work it out, and if not, then you indict. In
29:41
Speaker 1: response to Acosta's instructions, Lourie responded, Okay, we'll do. He
29:45
Speaker 1: also forwarded to Acosta the latest version of the USAO
29:49
Speaker 1: draft Hybrid plea agreement that Villa Fauna had sent to
29:52
Speaker 1: Lefkowitz the previous day, which Lauri had requested and obtained
29:56
Speaker 1: from Villa Fauna earlier that afternoon. Meanwhile, Villa Fauna sent
30:00
Speaker 1: to LORII and his successor West Palm Beach Manager a
30:03
Speaker 1: draft message she proposed to send to Lefkowitz with her
30:06
Speaker 1: objections to the defense revisions, explaining, I know that you
30:10
Speaker 1: keep saying he is going to plead, and he will
30:13
Speaker 1: plead if we cave on everything. But I really do
30:16
Speaker 1: not think that mister Epstein is going to engage in
30:18
Speaker 1: serious negotiations until he sees an indictment and it shows
30:22
Speaker 1: up in mag federal magistrate judge court. She suggested charging
30:26
Speaker 1: Epstein on a federal conspiracy charge, and if he refused
30:29
Speaker 1: to plead to the offense, superseding with additional charges and
30:33
Speaker 1: going to trial. She complained that after seven weeks of negotiations,
30:37
Speaker 1: we are just spinning our wheels. Her proposed email to
30:40
Speaker 1: Lefkowitz detailed all of the objectionable provisions in his draft
30:44
Speaker 1: and concluded, if you or your client insist on these,
30:47
Speaker 1: there can be no plea agreement. H Acosta edits the
30:51
Speaker 1: federal plea agreement and Villa Fauna sends a vinyl version
30:54
Speaker 1: to the defense. The next day, Thursday, September twentieth, two
30:58
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, Villa Fauna emailed Assistant State Attorney Bellohovlik
31:02
Speaker 1: and informed her our deadline is Monday evening for assigned
31:06
Speaker 1: agreement and arraignment in the federal system. At this time,
31:09
Speaker 1: things don't look promising anyway. But I will keep you posted.
31:13
Speaker 1: In their latest draft, they change what they agreed to
31:15
Speaker 1: plead to in the state from solicitation of minors for
31:18
Speaker 1: a prostitution a registrable offense, to forcing adults into prostitution
31:23
Speaker 1: a non registrable offense. We will not budge on this issue,
31:27
Speaker 1: so it's looking unlikely that we will reach a mutually
31:30
Speaker 1: acceptable agreement. If that changes, I will let you know.
31:34
Speaker 1: Acosta sent Lourie some thoughts about the USAO version of
31:37
Speaker 1: the proposed hybrid federal plea agreement and received from LORI
31:40
Speaker 1: the evening before, commenting that it seems very straightforward and
31:44
Speaker 1: we are not changing our standard charging language for the defense.
31:50
Speaker 1: Noting that the draft was prepared for his signature. Acosta
31:53
Speaker 1: told LORII that he did not typically sign plea agreements
31:57
Speaker 1: and this should not be the first, adding that the
31:59
Speaker 1: UAO should only go forward if the trial team supports
32:03
Speaker 1: and signs this agreement. Lourie forwarded the email to Villa
32:06
Speaker 1: Fauna with a transmittal message simply reading, I think alex
32:10
Speaker 1: changes are all good ones. Please try to incorporate his suggestions,
32:14
Speaker 1: change the signature block to your name, and send the
32:17
Speaker 1: final to Jay Laurie also noted to Acosta in Villa
32:20
Speaker 1: Fauna that he believed the defense would want to go
32:23
Speaker 1: back to the initial offer of a state plea with
32:26
Speaker 1: a prosecution agreement. When Villa Fanna sent the revised plea
32:29
Speaker 1: agreement to Lefkowitz later that afternoon, she advised him that
32:33
Speaker 1: if the defense wanted to return to the original offer
32:36
Speaker 1: of a state plea, only the draft NPA she had
32:39
Speaker 1: sent to him on September seventeenth, two thousand and seven
32:42
Speaker 1: would control I the defense rejects a federal plea agreement,
32:47
Speaker 1: returns to the NPA stated only resolution, and begins opposing
32:51
Speaker 1: the sexual offender registration requirement. After having spent days negotiating
32:56
Speaker 1: the federal charges to be included in the plea agreement,
32:59
Speaker 1: by the afternoon of September twentieth, two thousand and seven,
33:02
Speaker 1: the defense rejected the federal plea option, and the parties
33:06
Speaker 1: resumed negotiations over the details of the NPA, calling for
33:10
Speaker 1: Epstein to plead to only stay charges. Through multiple emails
33:14
Speaker 1: and attempts usuccessful to speak directly with Acosta and other supervisors,
33:19
Speaker 1: defense attorneys vigorously fought the usao's insistence that Epstein plead
33:23
Speaker 1: to a state charge requiring sexual offender registration. After receiving
33:28
Speaker 1: the federal plea agreement, Lefkowitz spoke with Villafauna. She reported
33:32
Speaker 1: to Acosta and Lorie that left Kowitz told her the
33:35
Speaker 1: defense was back to doing the state charges only agreement
33:39
Speaker 1: and wanted it until the middle of the following week
33:41
Speaker 1: to work out the details, but that she had already
33:44
Speaker 1: told the Defense Council that we need assigned agreement by
33:47
Speaker 1: Tomorrow Friday or we're following charges. On Tuesday, left Kowitz
33:52
Speaker 1: emailed Villafauna about the draft NPA that she had sent
33:55
Speaker 1: to him, pointing out that it called for a twenty
33:58
Speaker 1: month jail sentence followed by ten months of community control
34:01
Speaker 1: rather than eighteen months in jail and twelve under community control,
34:06
Speaker 1: and to ask if the USAO had any flexibility on
34:09
Speaker 1: the twenty two to fifty five procedure. Philifanna responded, the
34:13
Speaker 1: eighteen and twelve has already been agreed to by our office,
34:16
Speaker 1: so that is not a problem. On the issue about
34:19
Speaker 1: eighteen US Code twenty two fifty five, we seem to
34:22
Speaker 1: be miles apart. Your most recent version only had me
34:26
Speaker 1: binding the girls to a trust fund administered by the
34:28
Speaker 1: State Court, but also promising that they will give up
34:32
Speaker 1: their Section twenty two to fifty five rights. I reviewed
34:35
Speaker 1: the email that I sent you on Sunday with the
34:37
Speaker 1: comments on some of your other changes. In the context
34:40
Speaker 1: of a non prosecution agreement, the office may be more
34:43
Speaker 1: willing to be more specific about not pursuing charges against others. However,
34:48
Speaker 1: as I stated on Sunday, the office cannot and will
34:51
Speaker 1: not bind immigration. Also, your timetable will need to move
34:55
Speaker 1: up significantly. As State Attorney Barry Krisher said in our
34:58
Speaker 1: meeting last week, his office can put together a plea
35:00
Speaker 1: agreement and an information and get you all before the
35:03
Speaker 1: state judge on a change of plea within a day.
35:07
Speaker 1: Villafana alerted Krisher that evening that negotiations were not going
35:10
Speaker 1: very well and the Defense Council changed their minds again
35:14
Speaker 1: and they only want to plead to state charges, not
35:16
Speaker 1: concurrent state and federal. She added that if we cannot
35:19
Speaker 1: reach an agreement, then I need to charge the case
35:22
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, September twenty fifth, and I will not budge
35:25
Speaker 1: from that date. In response to Villafana's report of her
35:28
Speaker 1: conversation with Lefkowitz about the defense preference for a state
35:32
Speaker 1: charge's only agreement. Laurie alerted her that he wants to
35:35
Speaker 1: get out of the sexual offender registration, which we should
35:38
Speaker 1: not agree to. LORI email DaCosta. I think Jay will
35:42
Speaker 1: try to talk you out of the registrable offense, regardless
35:45
Speaker 1: of the merits of his argument, in order to get
35:47
Speaker 1: us down in time. They made us an offer that
35:50
Speaker 1: included pleading to an offense against a minor encouraging a
35:54
Speaker 1: minor into prostitution, and toubted that we should be happy
35:57
Speaker 1: because it was registrable for that reason a lie. I
36:00
Speaker 1: don't think we should consider allowing them to come down
36:03
Speaker 1: from their offer, either on the issue or on the
36:06
Speaker 1: time of incarceration. Lefkowitz attempted to reach Acosta that night,
36:11
Speaker 1: but Acosta directed Villa Fauna to return the call and
36:14
Speaker 1: told Louri that he did not want to open a
36:16
Speaker 1: back channel with defense counsel. Laurie instructed Villa Fauna, you
36:20
Speaker 1: can tell Jay that Alex will not agree to a
36:23
Speaker 1: non registration offense. On the morning of Friday, September twenty first,
36:27
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, Villafana emailed Acosta informing them that
36:31
Speaker 1: it looks like we will be filing charges against mister
36:33
Speaker 1: Epstein on Tuesday, reporting that the charging package was being
36:37
Speaker 1: reviewed by the West Palm Beach manager and asking if
36:40
Speaker 1: anyone in the Miami office needed to review it. Villa
36:43
Speaker 1: Fauna also alerted LORII that she had spoken that morning
36:47
Speaker 1: to Lefkowitz, who was waffling about Epstein pleading to a
36:50
Speaker 1: state charge that required sexual offender registration, and she noted
36:54
Speaker 1: that she would confer with Krisha and Bellehovlik to make
36:56
Speaker 1: sure the defense doesn't try to do and end around.
37:00
Speaker 1: That same morning, Epstein attorney Sanchez, who had not been
37:03
Speaker 1: involved in negotiations for several weeks, emailed Slowman, advising, I
37:07
Speaker 1: want to finalize the plea deal and there is only
37:09
Speaker 1: one issue outstanding, and I do not believe that Alex
37:12
Speaker 1: has read all the defense submissions that would assist in
37:15
Speaker 1: his determination on this point. Upon resolution, we will be
37:18
Speaker 1: prepared to sign as soon as today. From his out
37:22
Speaker 1: of town vacation, Sloman forwarded the email to Acosta, who replied,
37:26
Speaker 1: enjoy your vacation working with Marie on this. Sloman also
37:30
Speaker 1: forwarded Sanchez's email to LORII and asked, do you know
37:33
Speaker 1: what she's talking about? Laurie responded that Sanchez has not
37:37
Speaker 1: been in any negotiations. Don't even engage with yet another
37:41
Speaker 1: cook Jay. The USAO agrees not to criminally charge potential
37:45
Speaker 1: co conspirators. Lefkowitz, in the meantime, send Villa Fauna or
37:49
Speaker 1: revised draft NPA that proposed an eighteen month sentence in
37:53
Speaker 1: the county jail, followed by twelve months a community control,
37:56
Speaker 1: and restored the provision for a trust fund for the
37:59
Speaker 1: disbursement to an agreed upon list of individuals whose seek
38:03
Speaker 1: reimbursement by filing suit pursuant to US Code eighteen, Section
38:07
Speaker 1: twenty two fifty five. This defense draft retained the provision
38:11
Speaker 1: promising not to criminally charge Epstein's for female assistants and
38:14
Speaker 1: unnamed employees of the specific Epstein owned corporate entity, but
38:19
Speaker 1: also extended the provision to any potential co conspirator for
38:22
Speaker 1: any criminal charge arising from the ongoing federal investigation. The
38:27
Speaker 1: language had evolved from similar language that Villa Fauna had
38:30
Speaker 1: included in the usao's earlier proposed draft federal plea agreement.
38:34
Speaker 1: Lefkowitz also again included the sentence, precluding the government from requesting, initiating,
38:40
Speaker 1: or recommending immigration proceedings against the two assistants who were
38:44
Speaker 1: foreign nationals. Villafauna set to left Kowitz her own revised NPA,
38:49
Speaker 1: telling him that it was her attempt at combining our thoughts,
38:52
Speaker 1: but it had not been approved by the office yet.
38:55
Speaker 1: She inserted solicitation of minors to engage in prostitution a
38:59
Speaker 1: registrable affairs as the charge to which Epstein would plead guilty,
39:03
Speaker 1: proposed a joint recommendation for a thirty month sentence divided
39:07
Speaker 1: into eighteen months in the county jail and twelve months
39:09
Speaker 1: of community control, and amended the two to twenty five provision.
39:13
Speaker 1: Villafauna's revision retained the provision superseding the investigation and holding
39:18
Speaker 1: all legal process in abeyance, and she incorporated the non
39:22
Speaker 1: prosecution provision while slightly altering it to apply to any
39:25
Speaker 1: potential co conspirator of Epstein, including the four named assistants,
39:30
Speaker 1: and deleting mention of the corporate entity employees. Finally, villa
39:34
Speaker 1: Fauna deleted mention of the immigration proceedings, but advised in
39:38
Speaker 1: her transmittle email that we have not and don't plan
39:41
Speaker 1: to ask immigration proceedings to be initiated. Later that day,
39:45
Speaker 1: Villafauna alerted Lori, who had arrived in Florida from Washington,
39:48
Speaker 1: d C. Early that afternoon, and the new West Palm
39:51
Speaker 1: Beach Manager, copying her first line supervisor in Co Council,
39:55
Speaker 1: that she had included language that Defense Council had requested
39:58
Speaker 1: regarding promises not to prosecute other people, and commented, I
40:02
Speaker 1: don't think it hurts us. There is no documentation that LORII,
40:05
Speaker 1: the West Palm Beach Manager, or anyone else expressed disagreement
40:09
Speaker 1: with Villafana's assessment. Rather, within a few minutes, Villa Fauna
40:13
Speaker 1: resent the email, adding that Defense Council now persisting in
40:17
Speaker 1: including an immigration waiver in the agreement, to which Lourie responded,
40:21
Speaker 1: no way, we don't put that sort of thing in
40:23
Speaker 1: a plea agreement. Villafana applied to Lorie, indicating that she
40:26
Speaker 1: would pass that along to Defense Council and adding any
40:29
Speaker 1: other thoughts. When Lourie gave no further response, Villa Fauna
40:33
Speaker 1: informed Defense Council that Lourie had rejected the proposed immigration language.
40:38
Speaker 1: OPR questioned the subjects about the usao's agreement not to
40:42
Speaker 1: prosecute any potential non co conspirators. Lourie did not recall
40:46
Speaker 1: why the USO's agreement to it, but he speculated that
40:49
Speaker 1: he left the provision in the NPA because he believed
40:52
Speaker 1: at the time that had benefited the government in some way.
40:55
Speaker 1: In particular, louri conjectured that the promise not to prosecute
40:59
Speaker 1: any angel co conspirators protected victims who had recruited others
41:03
Speaker 1: and thus potentially were co conspirators in Epstein's scheme. Laurie
41:07
Speaker 1: also told OPR, I bet the answer was that we
41:10
Speaker 1: weren't going to charge Epstein's accomplices because Acosta didn't really
41:14
Speaker 1: want to charge Epstein in federal court. Slowman similarly said
41:18
Speaker 1: that he had the impression that the non prosecution provision
41:21
Speaker 1: was meant to protect named co conspirators who were also
41:24
Speaker 1: victims in a sense of Epstein's conduct. Although later press
41:28
Speaker 1: coverage of the Epstein case focused on Epstein's connections to
41:31
Speaker 1: prominent figures and suggested that the non prosecution provision protected
41:35
Speaker 1: these individuals, Slowman told OPR that it never occurred to
41:39
Speaker 1: him that the reference to potential co conspirators was directed
41:42
Speaker 1: towards any of the high profile individuals who were at
41:45
Speaker 1: the time or subsequently linked with Epstein. Acosta did not
41:49
Speaker 1: recall the provision or any other discussions about it. He
41:52
Speaker 1: speculated that if he read the non prosecution provision, he
41:55
Speaker 1: likely assumed that Villafana and Lourie had thought this through
41:59
Speaker 1: and addressed it for a reason. The West Palm Beach manager,
42:01
Speaker 1: who had only limited involvement at this stage, told OPR
42:05
Speaker 1: that the provision was highly unusual and he had no
42:08
Speaker 1: clue why the USAO agreed to it. Villa Fauna told
42:11
Speaker 1: OPR that, apart from the women named in the NPA,
42:14
Speaker 1: the investigation had not developed evidence of any other potential
42:18
Speaker 1: co conspirators, so we wouldn't be prosecuting anybody else, so
42:22
Speaker 1: why not include it. I just didn't think that there
42:25
Speaker 1: was anybody that it would cover. She conceded, however, that
42:28
Speaker 1: it did not catch the fact that it could be
42:30
Speaker 1: read as broadly as people have since read it. All right,
42:33
Speaker 1: we're going to wrap up right there, and in the
42:35
Speaker 1: next episode we're going to pick up with Part K.
42:38
Speaker 1: The USAO rejects defense efforts to eliminate the sexual offender
42:42
Speaker 1: registration requirement. All of the information that goes with this
42:46
Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box. What's up everyone,
42:50
Speaker 1: and welcome back to the Epstein chronicles. In this episode,
42:53
Speaker 1: we're getting right back to the Jeffrey Epstein OIG report
42:57
Speaker 1: into the NPA k the USAO rejects defense efforts to
43:03
Speaker 1: eliminate the sexual offender registration requirement. On the afternoon of Friday,
43:08
Speaker 1: September twenty one, two thousand and seven, State Attorney Krisher
43:11
Speaker 1: informed Villa Fauna that Epstein's council had contacted him and
43:15
Speaker 1: Epstein was ready to agree to all the terms of
43:17
Speaker 1: the NPA except for sexual offender registration. According to Krisher,
43:22
Speaker 1: defense council had proposed that registration be deferred and that
43:26
Speaker 1: Epstein register only of state or federal law enforcement felt
43:29
Speaker 1: at any point during his service of the sentence that
43:32
Speaker 1: he needed to do so. Krisher noted that he had
43:35
Speaker 1: reached out to Acosta about this proposal, but had not
43:38
Speaker 1: heard back from him. Villa Fauna responded, I think Alex
43:42
Speaker 1: is calling you now. Villa Fauna told OPR that, to
43:46
Speaker 1: her knowledge, Acosta called Krisher to tell him that the
43:49
Speaker 1: registration was not a negotiable term. Later that afternoon, Villa
43:53
Speaker 1: Fauna emailed Krisher for information about the amount of gain
43:57
Speaker 1: time Epstein would earn in state prison. Villa Fauna explained
44:01
Speaker 1: in her email that she wanted to include a provision
44:03
Speaker 1: in the NPA specifying that Epstein will actually be in
44:07
Speaker 1: jail at least a certain number of days to make
44:09
Speaker 1: sure he doesn't try to convince someone with the Florida
44:12
Speaker 1: prison authorities to let him out early. Krisher responded that
44:16
Speaker 1: under the proposal as it then stood, Epstein would serve
44:19
Speaker 1: fifteen months. He also told Villafauna that a plea to
44:22
Speaker 1: a registrable offense would not prevent Epstein from serving his
44:25
Speaker 1: time at the Stockade, the local minimum security detention facility.
44:30
Speaker 1: At some point that day, Acosta spoke with Lefkowitz by
44:34
Speaker 1: phone regarding the need for Epstein to plead to a
44:37
Speaker 1: registrable offense. Throughout the weekend, with Villafana's Monday deadline looming,
44:42
Speaker 1: defense counsel pressed hard to eliminate the sexual offender requirement.
44:46
Speaker 1: On Saturday, September twenty second, two thousand and seven, Sanchez
44:50
Speaker 1: sent a series of emails to Lori. In the first,
44:53
Speaker 1: she provided details from a press report about a Florida
44:56
Speaker 1: public official who the previous day had pled guilty to
44:59
Speaker 1: child sex abuse charges and was sentenced to a term approbation.
45:03
Speaker 1: She noted that she spoke to Matt Mentchel and asked
45:06
Speaker 1: Laurie to call her. Two hours later, she sent Lauri
45:09
Speaker 1: a second lengthy email, strongly objecting to the registration requirement
45:13
Speaker 1: and outlining all arguments against registration as a sexual offender
45:18
Speaker 1: in this case. In this email, Sanchez claimed that there
45:21
Speaker 1: had been a miscommunication during the September twelfth, two thousand
45:24
Speaker 1: and seven meeting, and that we only agreed to the
45:27
Speaker 1: solicitation with minors because we believed and Krisher and Behovolic
45:31
Speaker 1: confirmed it was not registrable. Sanchez complained that lifetime sexual
45:35
Speaker 1: offender registration was a life sentence that was uncalled for,
45:39
Speaker 1: does not make sense, and was inappropriate to impose simply
45:43
Speaker 1: because the FBI wants it in return for all their efforts.
45:47
Speaker 1: She listed numerous reasons why Epstein should not have to register,
45:51
Speaker 1: including his lack of a prior record of sexual offenses,
45:55
Speaker 1: the lack of any danger of recidivism, the ease with
45:59
Speaker 1: which he can be tracked without registering, and it would
46:02
Speaker 1: be virtually impossible to comply with four separate state registration requirements.
46:07
Speaker 1: A few minutes later, Sanchez sent left Court's phone number
46:10
Speaker 1: to Louri in case you want to speak to him directly.
46:13
Speaker 1: In another email sent less than two hours later, Sanchez
46:16
Speaker 1: told Lourie she was writing again because you are a
46:19
Speaker 1: very fair person. This resolution in the Epstein case is
46:22
Speaker 1: not reasonable. It is a result of a misunderstanding at
46:25
Speaker 1: a meeting. She stated that Epstein's attorneys had consistently emphasized
46:29
Speaker 1: their goal of eighteen months in a federal camp, and
46:32
Speaker 1: everyone knew that a registrable offense precluded a cap designation.
46:36
Speaker 1: Sanchez added, therefore, it would have been wholly inconsistent with
46:40
Speaker 1: the primary goal of Epstein's safety to lightly concede to registration.
46:45
Speaker 1: At that meeting, Sanchez concluded, imposing a life sentence on
46:49
Speaker 1: them is not something anyone will eventually be proud of.
46:52
Speaker 1: Please reconsider and help me get a fair result. Laurie
46:55
Speaker 1: responded to none of Sanchez's emails, but did reach out
46:58
Speaker 1: to Acosta for a phone conversation by email. Late that night,
47:02
Speaker 1: at ten twenty six pm, left Kowitz asked Lauri to
47:05
Speaker 1: phone them the next day, lef Kowitz email DaCosta with
47:08
Speaker 1: copies to Sloman, Louri, and Villafauna to follow up on
47:12
Speaker 1: a conversation Friday, asking Acosta again to reconsider the requirement
47:17
Speaker 1: that Epstein plead to a registrable offense. Lef Kowitz wrote
47:20
Speaker 1: that there had been a misunderstanding at the September twelfth,
47:23
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven meeting. Before the meeting, mister Krisher
47:27
Speaker 1: and miss Bellahovlik, a sex prosecutor for thirteen years, told
47:30
Speaker 1: us that solicitation of a minor is not a registrable offense. However,
47:35
Speaker 1: as it turned out, it is a registrable offense, and
47:38
Speaker 1: our discussion at that meeting was based on a mistaken assumption.
47:41
Speaker 1: We suggest that mister Epstein enter two please, one to
47:45
Speaker 1: the indictment and a second to a non registrable charge.
47:49
Speaker 1: Left Kowitz set fourth arguments similar to those Sanchez had
47:52
Speaker 1: presented to Louri, as to why registration based on the
47:55
Speaker 1: facts alleged in this case simply does not make sense.
47:59
Speaker 1: In the event that Acosta did not agree to their
48:01
Speaker 1: proposed charges, left Kowitz offered as an alternative to stipulate
48:05
Speaker 1: that the state offense would constitute a prior sexual offense
48:09
Speaker 1: for purposes of enhanced recidivist sentencing should Epstein ever again
48:13
Speaker 1: commit a federal sex offense against miners. As left Kowitz
48:17
Speaker 1: further argued, by accepting this option, you would be substituting
48:21
Speaker 1: the certainty of recidivists sentencing for the humiliation of registration.
48:25
Speaker 1: Emails reflect that early that afternoon, Acosta, Lori, and Villa
48:29
Speaker 1: Fauna discussed the matter in a conference call. Lefkowitz also
48:33
Speaker 1: sent a revised version of the NPA to Villafauna that
48:37
Speaker 1: omitted identification of the charge to which Epstein would plead guilty.
48:41
Speaker 1: Later that day, Lefkowitz email DaCosta. I got a call
48:45
Speaker 1: from Marie who said you had rejected our proposal. Does
48:48
Speaker 1: that mean you are not even prepared to have Epstein
48:51
Speaker 1: commit now to plead to the registrable offense near the
48:54
Speaker 1: end of his eighteen month sentence, and then be sentenced
48:57
Speaker 1: to twelve months community control for that charge. I thought
49:00
Speaker 1: that was exactly what you propose Friday, although you wanted
49:03
Speaker 1: but were not able to do it with some kind
49:05
Speaker 1: of federal charge, But that still gives you a registrable offense.
49:09
Speaker 1: Thirty months total and eighteen months in jail. How can
49:12
Speaker 1: that not satisfy you while still ensuring that Epstein is
49:15
Speaker 1: not unduly endangered in jail. A Costa responded, I do
49:19
Speaker 1: not mean to be difficult, but our negotiations must take
49:22
Speaker 1: place with the ausas assigned to the case. A Costa
49:26
Speaker 1: added that he had spoken with Lori and Villa Fauna
49:29
Speaker 1: and they had discretion to proceed as they believed just
49:32
Speaker 1: and appropriate. A Costa copied Villa Fauna and she emailed
49:36
Speaker 1: a Costa to thank them for the support. L The
49:39
Speaker 1: defense adds a confidentiality clause. Throughout that Sunday evening left,
49:43
Speaker 1: Kowitz had numerous email exchanges with Villa Fauna and apparently
49:47
Speaker 1: a conference call with Lori, who was returning to Washington, DC,
49:51
Speaker 1: and Villa Fauna. Later that evening left, Kowitz sent Villa
49:54
Speaker 1: Fauna a new version of the NPA that for the
49:57
Speaker 1: first time included a confidentiality turn. It is the intention
50:01
Speaker 1: of the parties to this agreement that it is not
50:04
Speaker 1: to be disseminated or disclosed, except pursuant to court order.
50:08
Speaker 1: In the event, the government must disclose the agreement in
50:10
Speaker 1: response to a request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act,
50:14
Speaker 1: the government agrees to provide EPSTEIN notice before the disclosure
50:18
Speaker 1: of this agreement. After making additional revisions, Villa Fauna sent
50:23
Speaker 1: this NPA to Acosta and Laurie as the final version,
50:26
Speaker 1: asking Acosta to let her know what he thought of it.
50:29
Speaker 1: Among her revisions, she changed the confidentiality provision to the following.
50:34
Speaker 1: The parties anticipate that this agreement will not be made
50:38
Speaker 1: part of any public record. If the United States receives
50:41
Speaker 1: a Freedom of Information Act request or any compulsory process
50:44
Speaker 1: commanding the disclosure of the agreement, it will provide notice
50:48
Speaker 1: to EPSTEIN before making its disclosure. Seven September twenty four,
50:54
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, Acosta makes final leedits and the
50:57
Speaker 1: NPA assigned the contemporaneum email show that Villa Fauna continue
51:02
Speaker 1: to update Acosta as the party is negotiated the final language,
51:06
Speaker 1: and that Acosta reviewed and edited the NPA. Shortly after
51:09
Speaker 1: midnight on Monday, September twenty fourth, two thousand and seven,
51:13
Speaker 1: Acosta sent Villafanna's small edits to the final NPA she
51:16
Speaker 1: had sent to him. Among his changes was language modifying
51:20
Speaker 1: provisions that appeared to require the state's attorney's office or
51:24
Speaker 1: the state's court to take specific actions, such as requiring
51:28
Speaker 1: the Epstein enter his guilty plea by a certain date.
51:31
Speaker 1: Acosta explained in his email, I'm not comfortable with requiring
51:35
Speaker 1: the state attorney to enter into a joint sentencing recommendation
51:39
Speaker 1: or requiring a state court to stick with our timeline
51:42
Speaker 1: for entry of the guilty plea in sentencing. Accordingly, Acosta
51:46
Speaker 1: substituted language that required Epstein alone to make a binding
51:50
Speaker 1: sentencing recommendation to the state court and required Epstein to
51:53
Speaker 1: use his best efforts to enter his guilty plea and
51:56
Speaker 1: be sentenced by the specified dates. Also instructed Villa Fauna
52:01
Speaker 1: to restore a reference to Epstein's wish to reach global
52:04
Speaker 1: resolution of his state and federal criminal liabilities. Louri, who
52:08
Speaker 1: had returned to the department in Washington, d C. Had
52:11
Speaker 1: a phone conversation with left Kowitz and sent additional comments
52:15
Speaker 1: on the final draft to Acosta and Villa Fauna. Villafana
52:19
Speaker 1: sent a new revision incorporating edits from Acosta and Lorii
52:22
Speaker 1: to Leftkowitz later that morning. On the afternoon of September
52:26
Speaker 1: twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, Villa Fauna circulated the
52:29
Speaker 1: new final version of the NPA to Acosta, Sloman Lorii
52:33
Speaker 1: and other supervisors and asked Lefkowitz to send her the
52:37
Speaker 1: signed agreement. After Lefkowitz electronically transmitted to Villa Fauna a
52:41
Speaker 1: copy of the NPA signed by Epstein, she emailed her
52:44
Speaker 1: immediate supervisor and her co council. They have scanned and
52:48
Speaker 1: emailed the signed agreement. It's done. In his transmittal email,
52:52
Speaker 1: Leftkowitz asked Villa Fauna to please do whatever you can
52:55
Speaker 1: to keep this from becoming public. Billifana responded, I have
52:58
Speaker 1: forwarded your message only to Alex Andy and the West
53:02
Speaker 1: pom Beach manager. I don't anticipate it going any further
53:05
Speaker 1: than that. When I receive the originals, I will sign
53:08
Speaker 1: and return one copy to you. The other will be
53:10
Speaker 1: placed in the case file, which will be kept confidential
53:13
Speaker 1: since it also contains identifying information about the girls. When
53:17
Speaker 1: we reach an agreement about the attorney representative for the girls,
53:21
Speaker 1: we can discuss what I can tell them and the
53:23
Speaker 1: girls about the agreement. I know that Andy promised chief
53:27
Speaker 1: writer an update when a resolution was achieved. The West
53:30
Speaker 1: Palm Beach manager is calling, but he knows not to
53:33
Speaker 1: tell Chief Writer about the money issue, just about what
53:35
Speaker 1: crimes mister Epstein is pleading guilty to and the amount
53:38
Speaker 1: of time that he has agreed to. He is also
53:41
Speaker 1: telling Chief Writer not to disclose the outcome to anyone.
53:45
Speaker 1: OPR questioned Villa Fauna about this email. She explained that
53:49
Speaker 1: she generally kept confidential the terms of the resolution of
53:52
Speaker 1: any case. She understood that the way that the Epstein
53:55
Speaker 1: case was resolved needed to remain confidential, but the victims
53:59
Speaker 1: could be informed about what happened because the NPA's terms.
54:02
Speaker 1: They needed to know what the agreement was about. Villa
54:06
Speaker 1: Fauna emailed the West Pom Beach manager asking him to
54:09
Speaker 1: tell Palm Beach Chief Writer the good news, but leave
54:12
Speaker 1: out the part about damages and explain that she wanted
54:15
Speaker 1: to meet with the victims herself to explain how the
54:18
Speaker 1: damaged provision would work. Villa Fauna also told them that
54:21
Speaker 1: Lourie had asked that Writer share information about the NPA
54:25
Speaker 1: only with the Palm Beach detective who had led the
54:28
Speaker 1: state investigation of Epstein. Billa Fanna forwarded to Acosta Lorii
54:32
Speaker 1: and the West pom Beach manager Leftwood's email asking that
54:35
Speaker 1: the USAO try to keep the NPA from becoming public.
54:39
Speaker 1: A Costa responded that the agreement already binds us not
54:42
Speaker 1: to make public except as required by law under the
54:46
Speaker 1: Freedom of Information Act, and asked what more does he want.
54:49
Speaker 1: Villafana replied, my guess is that if we tell anyone else,
54:53
Speaker 1: like the police chief or FBI or the girls, that
54:55
Speaker 1: we asked them not to disclose. Soon thereafter, Acosta email
54:59
Speaker 1: Lourie Lafauna and the West Palm Beach manager to set
55:02
Speaker 1: up a call to discuss who we tell and how much,
55:06
Speaker 1: adding nice job with a difficult negotiation. The final NPA
55:09
Speaker 1: is signed by Epstein, his attorneys left Court, and Sanchez
55:13
Speaker 1: and Villa Fauna contain the following pertinent provisions. Charges. Epstein
55:18
Speaker 1: would plead guilty to the pending Palm Beach County indictment
55:21
Speaker 1: plus one count of solicitation of miners to engage in
55:24
Speaker 1: prostitution a registrable offense sentence. The parties would make a
55:28
Speaker 1: joint binding recommendation for a thirty month sentence divided as follows,
55:33
Speaker 1: consecutive terms of twelve months and six months in the
55:36
Speaker 1: county jail without opportunity for withholding, adjudication or sentencing, and
55:41
Speaker 1: without community control or probation, followed by twelve months a
55:44
Speaker 1: community control consecutive damages. As long as the identified victims
55:50
Speaker 1: proceed exclusively under US Code eighteen, Section twenty two to
55:53
Speaker 1: fifty five, Epstein will not contest federal court jurisdiction or
55:57
Speaker 1: the victim status as victims. The The USAO would provide
56:01
Speaker 1: to Epstein a list of individuals that had identified as victims.
56:05
Speaker 1: The USAO, with the good faith approval of Epstein's counsel,
56:08
Speaker 1: would select an attorney representative for the victims, whom Epstein
56:12
Speaker 1: would pay timing. Epstein would make his best efforts to
56:15
Speaker 1: enter the guilty plea and be sentenced by October twenty six,
56:18
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. The USAO had no objections to
56:22
Speaker 1: Epstein self reporting to begin serving a sentence by January fourth,
56:26
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. Immunity. The USAO would not initiate
56:30
Speaker 1: criminal charges against any potential co conspirator of Epstein, including
56:34
Speaker 1: four name personal assistants. Other Epstein was obligated to undertake
56:39
Speaker 1: discussions with the state Attorney's office to ensure compliance with
56:43
Speaker 1: this agreement. Epstein waved his right to appeal. Epstein agreed
56:47
Speaker 1: that he would not be afforded any benefit with respect
56:49
Speaker 1: to gain time or other rights, opportunities and benefits not
56:53
Speaker 1: available to any other inmate. The federal investigation would be
56:57
Speaker 1: suspended and all pending legal processes he held in abeyance
57:01
Speaker 1: unless and until Epstein violated any term of the agreement.
57:05
Speaker 1: Evidence requested by or directly related to the pending legal process,
57:09
Speaker 1: including certain computer equipment, would be kept in violate until
57:13
Speaker 1: all the NPA terms had been satisfied. Breach, the USAO
57:18
Speaker 1: would be required to notify Epstein of any alleged breach
57:20
Speaker 1: of the agreement within ninety days of the expiration of
57:23
Speaker 1: the term of home confinement, and would be required to
57:26
Speaker 1: initiate prosecution within sixty days thereafter disclosure. The parties anticipated
57:32
Speaker 1: that the agreement would not be made part of any
57:34
Speaker 1: public record, and if the USAO received a Freedom of
57:38
Speaker 1: Information Act request or compulsory process commanding disclosure of the agreement,
57:43
Speaker 1: it would provide notice to Epstein before making any disclosure.
57:47
Speaker 1: That evening Leftkowitz emailed Lori to express concerns about the
57:50
Speaker 1: notification he understood would be given to Chief writers, stating
57:54
Speaker 1: I am very concerned about leaks unduly prejudicing Jeffrey Epstein
57:58
Speaker 1: in the media. He added, I have enjoyed working with
58:02
Speaker 1: you on this matter. Laurie responded with an assurance that
58:05
Speaker 1: writer notification was only so he does not find out
58:08
Speaker 1: about it in the paper, and he concluded I enjoyed
58:11
Speaker 1: it as well. Mister Epstein was fortunate to have such
58:14
Speaker 1: excellent representation. All Right, we're going to wrap up this
58:17
Speaker 1: episode here and in the next episode we're going to
58:19
Speaker 1: pick up with post NPA negotiations. All of the information
58:24
Speaker 1: that goes with this episode can be found in the
58:27
Speaker 1: description box.