(07/07/19)- A Florida billionaire well known in political circles-- has been arrested on new charges-- related to sex trafficking crimes involving minors.

Jeffrey Epstein was jailed in New York Sunday - set to appear in Federal Court on Monday.

Officials say the alleged crimes happened in both New York and Palm Beach, Florida between 2002 and 2005.

Epstein had previously pleaded guilty to similar state charges in Florida in 2008.

A deal with prosecutors allowed him to serve only 13 months in jail, and avoid more serious, federal charges against him.

But Epstein did have to register as a sex offender as part of that deal. </s> NEW YORK (AP) – Law enforcement officials say that wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested in New York on sex-trafficking charges.

Two law enforcement officials said Epstein was taken into federal custody Saturday on charges involving allegations that date to the 2000s.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case.

Epstein is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court. A message was sent to his attorney seeking comment.

Epstein’s arrest was first reported by The Daily Beast.

Epstein has been previously pleaded guilty to solicitation charges.

The new arrest come amid renewed scrutiny of that once-secret deal that ended a federal investigation and allowed Epstein to plead guilty to lesser state charges.

The deal also required financial settlements to dozens of Epstein’s victims. </s> NEW YORK (AP) - Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the 2000s, according to law enforcement officials.

Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain's Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump, was taken into federal custody, according to two officials.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case.

Epstein is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court. A message was sent to his attorney seeking comment.

Epstein's arrest was first reported by The Daily Beast.

The arrest comes amid renewed scrutiny of a once-secret plea deal that Epstein entered into.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution. The deal ended a federal investigation that could have landed Epstein in prison for life.

Instead, he was sentenced to 13 months in jail and was required to reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims. Epstein also was required to register as a sex offender.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> NEW YORK (AP) — Law enforcement sources: Financier Jeffrey Epstein arrested on sex-trafficking charges involving allegations from 2000s. </s> (CNN) – Florida-based billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been indicted on new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors, law enforcement sources told CNN on Saturday.

Epstein was arrested Saturday and is expected to appear in federal court in New York on Monday.

Epstein faces charges brought by US prosecutors in Manhattan, after previously evading similar charges when he secured a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors in Miami.

The charges, contained in a sealed indictment, involve alleged sex trafficking crimes committed between 2002 and 2005, according to law enforcement sources. The indictment alleged that the crimes occurred in both New York and Palm Beach, Florida.

A team of federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, along with some in the public corruption unit, have been assigned to the case.

CNN has reached out to Epstein’s lawyer.

The arrest was first reported by the Daily Beast.

In November, the Miami Herald reported that when Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was a US attorney in Florida, he gave Epstein the “deal of a lifetime.” In a sweeping review of the politically connected billionaire’s case, the Herald explained how Acosta had made an agreement with Epstein to avoid major repercussions for the hedge fund manager, even though a federal investigation had identified 36 underage victims.

The report said Acosta had brokered a deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys, where he pleaded in 2008 to two state prostitution charges, ultimately serving only 13 months and avoiding a federal trial. He also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.

The agreement, the Herald said, “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe” and further granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators” in the case.

Acosta told CNN in February that he welcomed an investigation by Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility into his handling of Epstein’s plea agreement.

Two months earlier, Epstein settled a separate lawsuit that could have allowed for several of his accusers to tell their stories in open court. </s> Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, MA in 2004. Epstein is connected with several prominent people including politicians, actors and academics.

Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on new sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the early 2000s, according to law enforcement officials.

Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain's Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump, was taken into federal custody and is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

One of the officials said Epstein is accused of paying underage girls for massages and molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case.

A message was sent to Epstein's defense attorney seeking comment. Epstein is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Epstein's arrest, first reported by The Daily Beast, comes amid renewed scrutiny of a once-secret plea deal that ended a federal investigation against him.

That deal, which is being challenged in Florida federal court, allowed Epstein, who is now 66, to plead guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution.

Averting a possible life sentence, Epstein was instead was sentenced to 13 months in jail. The deal also required he reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims and register as a sex offender.

Epstein's deal was overseen by former Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who is now Trump's labor secretary. Acosta has defended the plea deal as appropriate under the circumstances, though the White House said in February that it was "looking into" his handling of the deal. </s> Financier Jeffrey Epstein, a registered sex offender, was arrested on Saturday for alleged sex trafficking of minor girls in Florida and New York, multiple sources tell ABC News.

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Epstein’s arrest was first reported by The Daily Beast.

Sources tell ABC News that Epstein was taken into custody Saturday at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey, in an undercover operation.

A team of law enforcement officers from the FBI and the New York Police Department arrested Epstein, who was returning to the United States from France, according to sources. Authorities also raided Epstein's New York City home Saturday night and into early Sunday.

The precise charges Epstein will face are unclear, but the sources tell ABC News that they are likely to include conspiracy and sex trafficking of minor girls in New York and Florida. At least some of the charges, sources tell ABC News, involve allegations dating back more than a decade.

The indictment against Epstein remains under seal until a hearing in federal court in Manhattan scheduled for Monday, the sources say.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment.

Martin Weinberg, an attorney for Epstein, declined to comment when reached by email on Sunday.

Epstein was first investigated beginning in 2005 for alleged sex crimes against minor girls by both local and federal authorities in Florida. The core allegations revolved around an alleged scheme to recruit underage girls to Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion for massages that, in many cases, led to sexual contact, according to court records and law enforcement documents.

Federal authorities ultimately identified more than three dozen girls who had been alleged victims of Epstein, but instead of pursuing a prosecution, entered into a once-secret non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2007 that ended the federal investigation and spared him a potentially lengthy prison sentence.

The deal with Epstein was negotiated and approved by Alexander Acosta, then the United States attorney in Miami, who now serves in President Donald Trump's cabinet as the secretary of labor.

Attorney Stan Pottinger, of Edwards Pottinger LLC, said that his law partner, Brad Edwards, who represents several alleged victims of Epstein, learned of the arrest this weekend when one of Edwards’ clients called to say that the FBI had informed her of the developments.

"We have not seen the indictment nor do we know the basis for the arrest," Pottinger told ABC News late Saturday. "We expect to know more next week after we understand there will be an arraignment."

Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images

As a condition of the deal with federal authorities, Epstein ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution, but served just 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a private wing of a county jail. He was also granted liberal work-release privileges that allowed him to spend up to 16 hours a day at his office.

In 2008, two of Epstein’s alleged victims filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice, alleging that the deal with Epstein had been reached in violation of the Crimes Victims' Rights Act, which requires that the government confer with victims and keep them informed of developments in their cases.

Courtney Wild, one of Epstein's alleged victims, identified as Jane Doe #1 in the long-running lawsuit against the Justice Department, said she was "overwhelmed" by reports of the arrest. Wild has been interviewed by ABC News recently, and has agreed to have her name used publicly.

"Finally!" she said of the arrest. "Knowing he's off the streets and so many girls who would be in danger are now safe makes me so happy."

Another one of the Epstein's alleged victims, Michelle Licata, said it's "about time someone started picking up on what he has been doing."

Licata, who also consented to having her name used, accused Epstein of sexually abusing her when she was 16 years old during a massage at his home in 2005.

"I'm so relieved to know that he's behind bars," Licata, who spoke to authorities during the initial police investigation, told ABC News. "That's exactly where he needs to be."

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that the government's deal with Epstein did, in fact, violate the rights of Epstein’s victims. The court is now considering the possible remedies for the violation of the law.

"If today’s report is true, it only proves that the Epstein should have been charged by federal prosecutors twelve years ago in Florida," Paul Cassell, co-counsel along with Edwards for victims Jane Doe 1 and 2 in the case challenging the DOJ over the non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, said in a statement. "With his money, Epstein was able to buy more than a decade of delay in facing justice – but fortunately he wasn’t able to postpone justice forever."

"While New York prosecutors are apparently seeking to hold Epstein accountable, the Jane Does’ fight will continue to force federal prosecutors in Florida to do the same thing," Cassell added. </s> Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in New Jersey on Saturday night, charged by federal prosecutors with one count of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. The 66-year-old billionaire financier—who avoided federal criminal charges on similar counts in 2008—is expected to answer the new charges before a federal magistrate on Monday.

CBS Miami first reported that Epstein was arrested Saturday afternoon at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey under a sealed indictment. Per The Daily Beast, Epstein was apprehended by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force for sexually exploiting numerous underage girls in his Upper East Side home and Palm Beach residence—soliciting massages and otherwise “molesting or sexually abusing” them. Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, potentially carrying a maximum sentence of 45 years.

The allegations are comparable to those leveled against Epstein in 2007, charges for which he struck a deal that included pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, registering as a sex offender, and serving 13 months in a county jail that otherwise released him six days a week to work in his office. That plea was signed by then-Miami federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta, who now serves as Donald Trump’s labor secretary. In February, a Florida judge ruled that Acosta violated federal law by not disclosing Epstein’s nonprosecution agreement to his alleged victims. The Justice Department has also opened an investigation into possible prosecutorial misconduct regarding the nonprosecution agreement.

“It’s been a long time coming—it’s been too long coming,” attorney David Boies told The Daily Beast of Epstein’s arrest. Boies represents two of Epstein’s past accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Sarah Ransome. “We hope that prosecutors will not stop with Mr. Epstein because there were many other people who participated with him and made the sex trafficking possible,” Boies added.

The report also notes that Epstein’s employees and associates were allegedly complicit in recruiting the underage girls, and turned some of the girls into recruiters themselves. Epstein is also said to have been aware of their underage status throughout. </s> Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on new sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the early 2000s, according to law enforcement officials.

Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain's Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump, was taken into federal custody and is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

One of the officials said Epstein is accused of paying underage girls for massages and molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case.

A message was sent to Epstein's defense attorney seeking comment. Epstein is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Epstein's arrest, first reported by The Daily Beast, comes amid renewed scrutiny of a once-secret plea deal that ended a federal investigation against him.

That deal, which is being challenged in Florida federal court, allowed Epstein, who is now 66, to plead guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution.

Averting a possible life sentence, Epstein was instead sentenced to 13 months in jail. The deal also required he reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims and register as a sex offender.

Epstein's deal was overseen by former Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who is now Trump's labor secretary. Acosta has defended the plea deal as appropriate under the circumstances, though the White House said in February that it was "looking into" his handling of the deal.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra of Florida ruled earlier this year that Epstein's victims should have been consulted under federal law about the deal, and he is now weighing whether to invalidate the non-prosecution agreement, or NPA, that protected Epstein from federal charges.

It was not immediately clear whether the cases involved the same victims since nearly all have remained anonymous.

"The past cannot be undone; the government committed itself to the NPA, and the parties have not disputed that Epstein complied with its provisions," prosecutors wrote in the filing.

They acknowledged, however, that the failure to consult victims "fell short of the government's dedication to serve victims to the best of its ability" and that prosecutors "should have communicated with the victims in a straightforward and transparent way."

The victims in the Florida case have until Monday to respond to the Justice Department's filing.

According to court records in Florida, authorities say at least 40 underage girls were brought into Epstein's Palm Beach mansion for what turned into sexual encounters after female fixers looked for suitable girls locally and in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.

Some girls were also allegedly brought to Epstein's homes in New York City, New Mexico and a private Caribbean island, according to court documents.

Saturday's arrest also came just days after a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of nearly 2,000 pages of records in a since-settled defamation case involving Epstein.

U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse released a statement Saturday calling for Epstein to be held without bail pending trial.
American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is arrested and faces new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors.