Ghislaine Maxwell has 'immunity' from prosecution thanks to Jeffrey Epstein’s sweetheart deal, claims report
A new report has revealed that a plea deal between public prosecutors and Jeffrey Epstein has given immunity to Ghislaine Maxwell, who is awaiting trial for pimping out girls as young as 14 for the disgraced financier. It has been said that the prosecutors from the Southern District of Florida (SDFL) failed to notice that the plea deal was made not only to protect Epstein’s four female associates in 2007 but also to keep the British socialite safe. They, however, later confessed to understand it.
As per a report by The Daily Mail, the mistake was featured in a report by the Department of Justice's internal watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The lawyers of Epstein reportedly persuaded the prosecutors to write down the documents in loose language, which read “The United States agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to (the four women)”. Those four women were Nadia Marcinkova, an alleged sex slave, Sarah Kellen, who was allegedly one of his main recruiters, Lesley Groff, who is said to have been his New York-based assistant, and Adriana Ross, one of his associates. The report has also disclosed that due to the badly-worded document, Epstein was behind bars just for 15 months in 2007 despite the FBI identifying dozens of potential victims.
Besides, another shocking revelation is that the SDFL did not take into custody Epstein's computers and surveillance tapes from inside his houses, which could have proven that he possessed child pornography. It has been reported that a senior prosecutor “enjoyed” working with Jay Lefkowitz — the convicted sex offender’s lawyer — and also told him that “Mr Epstein was fortunate to have such excellent representation”.
The most mortifying part of the new report noted that “It was clear Epstein did not want the contents of his computers disclosed. Nothing in the available record reveals that the USAO (prosecution) benefited from abandoning pursuit of this evidence when they did. Instead, the USAO agreed to postpone and ultimately to abandon its efforts to obtain evidence that could have significantly changed Acosta's (Alex, US Attorney who signed off on Epstein's agreement) decision to resolve the federal investigation with a state guilty plea or led to additional significant federal charges. By agreeing to postpone the litigation, the USAO gave away leverage that might have caused the defense to come to an agreement much earlier and on terms more favorable to the government. The USAO ultimately agreed to a term in the (plea deal) that permanently ended the government's ability to obtain possible evidence of significant crimes and did so with apparently little serious consideration of the potential cost.”
Apart from these, the report has depicted Ann Marie Villafaña, the Assistant US Attorney who was in charge of the case, as one of the few from the department who wanted Epstein’s arrest as soon as possible. The OPR was reportedly told by Villafaña that she wanted to take Epstein in custody immediately “because child sex offenders don't stop until they're behind bars.” But Matthew Menchel, the chief of the criminal division for SDFL, had a disagreement with her. According to reports, a blunt email sent to Villafaña by Menchel read: “If you want to work major cases in the district you must understand and accept the fact that there is a chain of command — something you disregard with great regularity.”
Reports also claimed that after Epstein signed the plea deal, one of Villafaña's colleagues said to her, “this case only resolved with the filthy rich bad guy going to jail because of your dedication and determination.” But she responded, “after all the hell they put me through, I don't feel like celebrating 18 months. He should be spending 18 years in jail.”