Report: Epstein’s Lawyers Offer Plea Deal to Divulge Names in Exchange for 5-Year Sentence

A protest group called "Hot Mess" hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the Federal courthouse in New York City on July 8, 2019. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein will agree to give up names of individuals who took part in the trafficking ring he’s charged with running—in exchange for a substantially lower sentence, according to a report by broadcast channel One America News Network (OANN).

“Epstein’s lawyer has already made a proffer to SDNY,” OANN host Jack Posobiec said in a July 8 Twitter post. SDNY refers to the Southern District of New York.

“Epstein will agree to cooperate with the investigation, including giving up the names of individuals that paid for activities with underage girls in exchange for a maximum sentence not to exceed 5 years,” he continued, without indicating where he got the information.

A two-count indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors on July 8 charged the 66-year-old billionaire financier with sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Epstein allegedly sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations.

The charges carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years in jail. At Epstein’s age, the charges are tantamount to “a life sentence,” Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference.

The 14-page unsealed indictment didn’t name any of the “employees and associates” who facilitated Epstein’s conduct by contacting and scheduling the victims’ sexual encounters with him.

Between 2002 and 2005, Epstein “enticed and recruited” minor girls in New York and Florida to engage in sex acts, after which he would pay the victims hundreds of dollars in cash, court records stated.

Epstein has connections to numerous high-profile people, including former President Bill Clinton, the UK’s Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey, and director Woody Allen. Clinton flew on Epstein’s jet, infamously dubbed the “Lolita Express,” at least 26 times, according to records obtained by Fox News in 2016.

A July 8 statement from Clinton’s press secretary, Angel Ureña, said Clinton only “took a total of four trips” on the jet. The statement also said Clinton “knows nothing about the terrible crimes” Epstein allegedly committed, and that he had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade.”

At an appearance in a Manhattan federal court on July 8, Epstein pleaded not guilty to the charges. A federal judge ordered him to remain in jail until a subsequent bail hearing scheduled for July 11.

At the SDNY press conference, Berman confirmed previous reports that said Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on July 6, after his private plane had landed from France.

Berman also said his office isn’t bound by a previous plea deal in which Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in prison in 2008; he said that deal only binds the Southern District of Florida. The previous deal is currently being challenged in a Florida federal court.

Bill Sweeney, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said at the press conference that children who are victims are still traumatized by abuse long after it occurs.

“I stand among many who make it our mission to put predators behind bars, where they belong, regardless of the predator’s power, wealth, or perceived connections,” Sweeney said.