NEW YORK (CNN) — Florida-based billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been indicted on new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors, law enforcement sources told CNN on Saturday.
Epstein was arrested Saturday and is expected to appear in federal court in New York on Monday.
Epstein faces charges brought by US prosecutors in Manhattan, after previously evading similar charges when he secured a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors in Miami. That happened in 2007,
Back then, Epstein reached a plea deal with the federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta — Trump’s current labor secretary.
In addition to being friends with the president, Epstein also has friends in high places in the world of media and politics. Other associations have included Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
Trump once praised Epstein — according to Trump biographer Tim O’Brien — for liking women “on the younger side.”
During the presidential campaign in 2016, a lawsuit was filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by Trump at a party at Epstein’s in 1994 when she was 13. She dropped the lawsuit days before the election.
The new charges, contained in a sealed indictment, involve alleged sex trafficking crimes committed between 2002 and 2005, according to law enforcement sources. The indictment alleged that the crimes occurred in both New York and Palm Beach, Florida.
A team of federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, along with some in the public corruption unit, have been assigned to the case.
Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, is one of the prosecutors, according to a source with knowledge of the case.
CNN has reached out to Epstein’s lawyer.
The arrest was first reported by the Daily Beast.
In November, the Miami Herald reported that when Labor Secretary Acosta was a US attorney in Florida, he gave Epstein the “deal of a lifetime.” In a sweeping review of the politically connected billionaire’s case, the Herald explained how Acosta had made an agreement with Epstein to avoid major repercussions for the hedge fund manager, even though a federal investigation had identified 36 underage victims.
The report said Acosta had brokered a deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys, where he pleaded in 2008 to two state prostitution charges, ultimately serving only 13 months and avoiding a federal trial. He also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.
The agreement, the Herald said, “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe” and further granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators” in the case.
Acosta told CNN in February that he welcomed an investigation by Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility into his handling of Epstein’s plea agreement.
Acosta also denied any wrongdoing.
Two months earlier, Epstein settled a separate lawsuit that could have allowed for several of his accusers to tell their stories in open court.
The-CNN-Wire
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