Under the non-prosecution agreement, signed on 24 September 2007, Epstein would plead guilty to two state charges, serve 18 months, register as a sex offender and not contest civil claims by victims who sued under a federal statute. In exchange the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida would not bring federal charges. Prosecutors had drafted a 53-page indictment, according to the Herald. [1][2]
The agreement went further. It promised not to prosecute four named women who worked for Epstein, and “any potential co-conspirators.” That clause is the source of the endless question: who else was covered? Federal prosecutors in New York later argued, and courts agreed, that the Florida agreement did not bind other districts, which is how Epstein could be charged in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020. [1][3]
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