Acosta Meets With Epstein's Defense Team at DOJ The NPA Negotiations
U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta meets with Epstein's defense attorneys to negotiate the terms of the Non-Prosecution Agreementa meeting that later became central to the CVRA lawsuit and accountability debates.
People Involved
In 2007, Alexander Acosta, then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, met with Epstein’s defense teamwhich included Alan Dershowitz, Jay Lefkowitz, and Ken Starrto negotiate the terms of what would become the 2008 Non-Prosecution Agreement.
The CVRA lawsuit later focused heavily on these communications, which established pre-decisional contact between prosecutors and defense attorneys while victims were systematically excluded from information about the process. Judge Marra’s 2019 ruling found this secrecy violated the CVRA.
The Acosta negotiations are now considered a case study in prosecutorial misconduct and the power of well-resourced defense teams to shape criminal outcomes.