The Referral
Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter and Detective Joseph Recarey referred the Epstein case to the FBI’s Miami field office in April 2006, after growing frustrated with what they perceived as inadequate response from Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer.
FBI Miami’s Investigation
The FBI Miami officespecifically its Innocence Lost Program unit, which handles child exploitation casestook the referral seriously. Agents:
- Reviewed the Palm Beach PD investigative file
- Began independent witness interviews
- Expanded the geographic scope beyond Palm Beach to include New York and the USVI
- Identified additional victims not in the Palm Beach investigation
The Federal Case File
By 2007, FBI Miami had assembled a substantial federal case file. Prosecutors assessed the evidence as supporting federal sex trafficking chargespotentially against Epstein and co-conspirators.
The NPA Intervention
The NPA negotiated by Acosta effectively shelved the federal prosecution. FBI agents who worked the case have expressed frustration in subsequent reporting and recorded interviews. Some described the plea arrangement as a reversal of their investigative work.
The 2019 Reopening
When SDNY reopened the case in 20182019, they worked largely from the same evidentiary foundations the FBI Miami investigation had assembledplus additional victim interviews demonstrating that the case could have been made in 20072008 had the NPA not intervened.