has avoided any serious punishment. he previously avoided similar charges by securing a secret deal for a much lesser offense with prosecutors in florida in 2008 led by then u.s. attorney and now secretary labor secretary alexander acosta. the miami-herald details how he gave epstein the, quote, deal of a lifetime, allowing the man connected to donald trump and bill clinton to avoid spending the rest of his life in jail. for years of preying on vulnerable girls, some allegedly as young as 14 while allegedly getting them to recruit other girls. all the while he allegedly trafficked the victims for the purposes of rape, sexual abuse, by him and others according to his accusers. but as cnn bren jing grass reports epstein is facing the very justice he has alluded for decades. reporter: mlt millionaire financier jeffrey epstein a registered sex offender in court
york where we know that epstein was taken into custody last night, as you mentioned, now in jail waiting a key monday morning hearing to determine what will happen next whether he will be allowed to go free or be bail while this prosecution progresses. there s already some concern about that. we have already seen some lawmakers come out and say he should not be able to pay bail because then he ll never be caught again. epstein is a well-connected billionaire, someone who used to be friendly with both bill clinton and donald trump. this case has always been seen as example of two justice systems in america, one for normal people, another for the rich and powerful and connected. epstein was able to have incredible lenient terms, the deal of a lifetime, when he first faced these accusations about sex trafficking and predatory behavior toward minors, toward teens. he was able to spend 13 months in jail. okay. jail but able to go off to an office six days a week and go back to jail at night
york including the public corruption unit. joining us now legal analyst elie honig, former u.s. assistant attorney for the southern district of new york and also with us bill carter who reported for the new york times for 25 years. epstein was previously charged with similar crimes during this same time period. a lot of people called it the deal of a lifetime, and part of it was to avoid federal charges. how can we now face it federal charges? i call it complete and total injustice. fortunately those kind of nonprosecution agreements are usually specific to the district that gives them to the defendant. epstein got this from the southern district of florida when secretary acosta was the u.s. attorney. that is not binding on other districts including the southern district of new york. i also will know more tomorrow, but i would expect to see this
what this means for the more than 30 underage victims. reporter: once seen as a rising star in the trump administration, labor secretary, alex acosta, on the defensive after federal judge ruled prosecutors under his control broke the law back in 2008 when acosta was in miami. the case in question regards jeffrey epstein who faced up to life in prison over allegations he sexually molested dozens of underage girls at his palm beach mansion after they were hired to give him massages. epstein never went to trial. his lawyers reached with the miami herald called the deal of a lifetime with prosecutors. who judge found failed to discuss the arrangement with more than 30 young victims. the present was asked about acosta in the oval office. i really don t know too much about it. i know he s done a great job as
a threatening letter to himself and orchestrated this attack. back to you. nick, thank you for that. another trump cabinet secretary is in trouble, this time alex acosta. he was a federal prosecutor 11 years ago when the justice department reached a plea deal with jeffrey epstein, a palm beach billionaire accused of sexually abusing as many as 36 underage girls in a sex ring. on thursday a federal judge in south florida ruled that acosta and the justice department broke the law by not discussing the plea deal with victims as required. in november the miami herald reported that epstein got the deal of a lifetime, no trial and just 13 months in prison. the plea arrangements effectively shut down a probe. earlier this month republican