One of the child sex trafficking victims of Jeffrey Epstein won a full en banc hearing before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after the Court decided to vacate a ruling by a three-judge panel to dismiss her lawsuit to vacate a plea agreement Epstein signed with federal prosecutors in 2008, the Miami Herald reports.
Courtney Wild and another plaintiff identified as “Jane Doe #2” filed an appeal of Epstein’s plea deal on the grounds that the victims of Epstein’s crimes were not consulted or notified of the deal, as is the policy of the Department of Justice.
Epstein’s plea deal, negotiated with the US Attorney for Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta, who later became Trump’s first Secretary of Labor, is viewed as exceptionally lenient for the scope and seriousness of the crimes.
It granted immunity to Epstein and four named co-conspirators on all federal charges, and included an unheard of immunity for all unnamed “potential co-conspirators.” The effect of this agreement was to stop all federal investigations into these crimes and seal all the records.
Epstein received a 13-month sentence in which he was allowed to leave the jail, where he was housed in a private wing, for twelve hours a day as “work release” at his own company.
Acosta agreed that the deal would be kept from the victims of Epstein’s crimes, which violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004.
The two judges who ruled to dismiss the motion ruled that because the case never led to federal charges, it could not be appealed in a federal court. One judge was a Trump appointee, the other a Ford appointee on “senior status” with the Court.
The dissenting judge, Clinton appointee Frank Hull, found the rationale lacking, saying in her opinion that the US Attorney “egregiously violated federal law” after issuing a 53-page indictment that Acosta sealed.
Overturning the plea deal, should it happen, would remove the immunity for Epstein and his named and unnamed co-conspirators, allowing them to face federal charges in relation to the crimes against 34 minor victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring identified in the Florida indictment.
It could also provide victims an opportunity to meet with prosecutors to force them to explain and detail the (potentially vacated) plea agreement. It is unclear if Acosta would be recalled to face the victims.
Epstein was found dead, hanging in his cell in New York Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019, leading to many conspiracy theories about people wanting to stop him from testifying against influential friends and clients. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently facing charges in relation to her recruiting young girls Epstein trafficked.