Billionaire Busted In NJ For Sex-Trafficking Operation: Feds

A billionaire sex offender who was once praised by Donald Trump and rode jets with Bill Clinton and Trump was busted in New Jersey this weekend for allegedly running an underage sex-trafficking operation, authorities say.

Trump's current labor secretary also reportedly was involved in securing a plea deal a decade ago that prevented Jeffrey Epstein from going to jail for life.

Epstein, 66, has been accused of sexually assaulting girls at his mansion in Manhattan — more than a decade after taking a plea deal that protected him from similar charges in Florida – before his arrest at Teterboro Airport on Saturday, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court.

"It means a great deal to the alleged victims here that they have their day in court, and we want to make sure they have their day in court by bringing these charges," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a news conference.

Epstein lured girls as young as 14 to his homes on East 71st Street and in Palm Beach, Fla., for sexual encounters from at least 2002 to 2005, according to the indictment charging him with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy. Epstein sought out girls who were minors and knew some of them were underage because they told him how old they were, the indictment says.

Authorities also found hundreds of photographs of what appeared to be nude and partially nude underage girls in his Manhattan mansion on the night he was arrested, according to a court filing. That's just one of many reasons prosecutors say they want Epstein jailed while he awaits trial; they also say he has the means to flee the area as he faces serious criminal charges.

"The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant; rather, he is a continuing danger to the community and an individual who faces devastating evidence supporting deeply serious charges," prosecutors wrote in a memo requesting Epstein's detention without bail.

The incidents of abuse started with the girls giving Epstein massages that he would escalate into sex acts, the indictment says. He typically paid the girls hundreds of dollars in cash after each encounter and had some of his victims "recruit" other girls for him to abuse, according to the indictment.

Epstein similarly abused girls at his other residence in Palm Beach and had an assistant in New York schedule such encounters there ahead of his arrival, prosecutors allege. Other employees and associates of Epstein's helped facilitate the abuse or paid off the girls, according to the charges.

A decade ago, Epstein reportedly faced similar accusations involving girls who told the police they were brought to his mansion in South Florida and assaulted. But The Daily Beast says he was shielded from federal charges in a secret plea deal partly negotiated by Alexander Acosta, the former United States attorney in the Southern District of Florida who now serves as Trump’s labor secretary.

Acosta met privately with a lawyer for Epstein, and his office allowed Epstein's lawyers to dictate many of the plea deal’s terms, according to The New York Times. In February, a federal judge ruled that Florida prosecutors had broken the law in 2008 by not keeping Epstein’s victims informed of the plea deal.

Epstein, according to NBC News, parlayed his wealth and success to establish political and social contacts around the world, including Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump said in a 2002 interview with New York Magazine. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

Trump's winter home is less than a mile from Epstein’s waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, according to The Miami Herald, and he flew on Epstein’s private jet on occasion and attended parties and social events where he was photographed with Epstein.

One woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleges she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell, a 57-year-old British socialite who has been accused of working as Epstein’s madam in 2000 when she was 16. Giuffre was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago Trump’s winter home and resort in Palm Beach at the time, according to The Miami Herald; she claims she was forced by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex with a number of wealthy and powerful politicians, academics and government leaders

Clinton also flew on one of Epstein's planes on several occasions, according to flight records reviewed by NBC News.

Federal agents carried out a search of Epstein's townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to The Miami Herald, noting that the deal the billionaire received from the U.S.attorney in Miami in 2008 was connected to an investigation involving more than 30 underage victims.

Epstein has long been the subject of accusations, lawsuits and investigations by both federal and local law enforcement for sex crimes against underage girls, according to Vox. After a 53-page sex crimes indictment was prepared in 2007 that could have sent him to prison for life, Epstein pleaded guilty to the solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution.

Because of the deal made with Acosta, Vox said, Epstein did not receive a long sentence.