State looks at handling of Epstein case in ’08
Independent investigation to focus on plea agreement and work-release program
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened an investigation Tuesday into how Palm Beach County’s sheriff and former state prosecutor handled Jeffrey Epstein’s sex abuse case and incarceration more than a decade ago.
Gov. Ron DeSantis asked state police to launch the probe, which will focus on Epstein’s plea agreement with prosecutors and work-release program at the jail. The governor’s move takes the investigation out of the hands of Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who led the agency when Epstein was in the program.
Epstein avoided serious prison time as part of a once-secret plea deal even though he faced accusations of sexual abuse from dozens of teenage girls. In jail, he received a generous work-release agreement allowing him to spend up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week working out of a downtown West Palm Beach office.
“Floridians expect and deserve a full and fair investigation,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the governor, Bradshaw requested that the FDLE take over a criminal investigation his agency opened on July 23.
Bradshaw, who has been sheriff since 2004, has been facing mounting pressure to agree to an independent investigation into how his deputies handled the workrelease agreement. Initially, his agency had resisted an outside investigation.
The four-term sheriff, who has said he’ll run for re-election in 2020, struck a different tone in his letter to the governor.
“Given the recent questions that have been raised around the Jeffrey Epstein case, I am formally requesting that FDLE assume the existing criminal investigation and I pledge the cooperation and participation of my agency,” Bradshaw wrote. “I believe the public interest would be best served by an FDLE-led
investigation examining every aspect of the Epstein case, from court sentencing to incarceration.”
The Sheriff Office’s will continue its internal affairs investigation, Bradshaw wrote.
Epstein spent 13 months in the Palm Beach County stockade during 2008-2009 as part of a plea deal widely criticized as being too lenient. The agreement ended a federal sex abuse investigation that involved dozens of teenage girls.
About 3½ months into his sentence, Epstein was allowed to spend up to 72 hours a week, working out of a downtown West Palm Beach office. Deputy reports show he also was able to visit his Palm Beach mansion, despite restrictions on home visits. In reports, deputies referred to Epstein as the “client” and noted he was “very happy with the service” he was being provided.
As part of the agreement, Epstein’s nonprofit organization paid nearly $128,000 to the Sheriff’s Office for off-deputy deputies to supervise the work release. The deputies were required to wear suits while on the detail.
In a news conference, lawyer Brad Edwards, who represents a dozen Epstein accusers, said Epstein was able to have “improper sexual contact” with women when he was on work release.
State Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, led the calls for an FDLE investigation, circulating a petition that demanded the governor take action.
“Epstein enjoyed an unprecedented and deeply troubling level of leniency and luxury while incarcerated by PBSO,” Book said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “I am disgusted by the flagrant corruption documented within the logs of deputies assigned to supervise Epstein while on work release and deeply disturbed by allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated under PBSO watch. FDLE’s investigation is the first step toward a clear understanding of what happened and who is responsible. We need answers if we want accountability.”
Last month, Alex Acosta resigned as U.S. Labor Secretary amid criticism over his handling of the case when he was South Florida’s top federal prosecutor.
Epstein, now 66, agreed to plead guilty to state prostitution charges. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence, registered as a sex offender and paid settlements to victims.
Acosta tried to save himself with a lengthy news conference in which he attempted to shift blame for his office’s handling of the case to career prosecutors and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
After the news conference, Barry Krischer, who was Palm Beach County state attorney at the time, released a statement that Acosta’s account was “completely wrong.” He said federal prosecutors abandoned a 53-page indictment, and the U.S. attorney’s office could file its own charges.
While the FDLE investigation gets underway in Florida, Epstein remains in a New York jail. He was indicted in early July on federal sex trafficking charges in New York.