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Case 22-1426, Document OL 3536038, Page93 of 258
Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 204-3 Filed 04/16/21 Page 91 of 348
Villafafia told OPR that during the meeting, the group discussed the draft NPA, but she did
not think they gave a copy to Krischer and Belohlavek. Neither Krischer nor Belohlavek expressed
concern about proceeding as the USAO was proposing. According to Villafafia, Belohlavek
explained that a plea to the three state counts identified in the draft NPA would affect the state’s
sentencing guidelines, and that it would be better for the guidelines calculation if Epstein pled
guilty to just one of the three counts. Villafafia recalled that when Belohlavek confirmed that
Epstein would be required to register as a sexual offender if he pled to any one of the three charges,
Lourie, speaking for the USAO, agreed to allow Epstein to enter his plea to just one state charge
in addition to the pending state indictment, and the defense attorneys selected the charge of
procurement of minors to engage in prostitution.!°° Lourie, however, disputed Villafafia’s
recollection that he made the final decision, stating that it was “illogical” to conclude that he had
the authority to change the terms of agreement unilaterally. !°”
During the meeting, defense counsel raised concerns about Epstein serving time in state
prison. Villafafia also told OPR that Lourie, the other supervisor, and she made clear during the
meeting that they expected Epstein to be incarcerated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during
the entirety of his sentence, and they did not “particularly care” whether it was in a state or local
facility. Belohlavek explained to OPR that in order for Epstein to serve his time in a county
facility, rather than state prison, his sentence on each charge could be no more than 12 months, so
that, for example, consecutive terms of 12 months and 6 months—totaling 18 months—could be
served in the county jail. Villafafia told OPR:
Our thing was incarceration 24 hours a day. So during this meeting,
I remember [the defense] talking about... a one year count followed
by a six-month count... that [Epstein] could serve them back to
back but at the county jail, rather than having to go to a state facility.
But then I said, “But if you do that, it’s still going to have to be round
the clock incarceration.” And Barry Krischer said yes. And [he]
said that to avoid [Epstein being extorted while incarcerated], he
would be kept in solitary confinement.
Villafafia did not recall whether she and Lourie agreed to an 18-month sentence during that
meeting, but she told OPR that in her view, allowing Epstein to serve his sentence in the county
jail was not a “concession” because he would be incarcerated regardless.
Neither Lourie nor the other USAO supervisor present could recall any substantive details
of the September 12, 2007 meeting, and Krischer and Belohlavek told OPR they did not remember
the meeting at all. Krischer did, however, recall that he was “not offended at all” when he learned
of the proposed federal resolution, requiring Epstein to plead to both the pending state indictment
and an additional charge requiring sexual offender registration, explaining to OPR that Epstein
“was going to plead guilty to my indictment, we were going to add an additional charge, he was
106 Later, the defense would claim that they had mistakenly understood that the selected charge would not
involve sexual offender registration.
107 As noted below, a contemporaneous email indicates that shortly after the meeting, Lourie and Villafafia spoke
with Acosta and Sloman, who concurred with the agreement.
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Extracted Information
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00021265.jpg |
| File Size | 966.4 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.4% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,663 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 20:09:34.315102 |