David McCloskey

And in 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida State Court to charges relating to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Here...

He receives what has become a very controversial plea deal that resulted in an 18-month sentence of which he served about 13 months, most of it under work release privileges.

So he's actually not in jail for a lot of that time.

And it's essentially a non-prosecution agreement that Epstein's lawyers secretly cut with federal prosecutors.

At the time, it takes the gas out of an ongoing FBI probe into whether there were victims and other powerful people who took part in Epstein's sex crimes.

The deal required that Epstein plead guilty to two prostitution charges in a state court and agree to serve those 13 months.

It essentially makes the case that Epstein is only paying for sex when he actually stood accused of sexually abusing minors.

So he kind of could get out of this

with his reputation still intact.

Semi.

Semi-intact.

That's right.

That's right.

So he's arrested in the summer of 2019.

He's charged in federal court with sex trafficking and a conspiracy to traffic biners based on allegations involving dozens of underage girls over many years.

He pleads not guilty

But then on August 10th of 2019, Epstein is found dead in his jail cell in New York City.

It is ruled a suicide by hanging, though, of course, as listeners are doubtless aware, that has sparked widespread controversy, investigations, and conspiracy theories about whether he actually killed himself.

One of the most cited alleged facts in this case is that the prosecution or the non-prosecution deal that was struck in 2008