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Extracted Text (OCR)
6
why specify the district for Epstein? The only logical
inference is that the co-conspirator promise was
meant to reach more broadly, in line with its different
phrasing.” At the very least there is a textual ambi-
guity, and under Santobello and the contract inter-
pretation principle contra proferentum, such ambigu-
ity must be construed against the government as
the drafter and promisor. See, e.g., United States v.
Carmichael, 216 F.8d 224 (2d Cir. 2000) (“[Wle
‘construe plea agreements strictly against the Govern-
ment.”) (internal citation omitted); OPR report
(“OPR”) at 80, 166 (confirming that AUSA wrote the
specific language in question). Under any normal
reading of this contract, then, no federal charges can
be brought against any co-conspirator in any district
in the United States.
Reading the NPA “as a whole” means giving effect to
the deliberate difference in phrasing between the
Epstein-focused clause and the co-conspirator clause.’
* It is not, as the government contends, “extremely strange” for
Epstein to have secured broader immunity for his co-conspirators
than he was getting for himself, Opp.9. Defendants always try to
get as many benefits in a plea agreement as they can — here,
Epstein was able to obtain an additional benefit for his co-
conspirators that he was unable to secure for himself, no doubt
because the government attorneys “wouldn’t have been interested
in prosecuting anyone else.” OPR:70; see also OPR:80, 168.
Epstein “wanted to make sure that he’s the only one who takes
the blame for what happened.” OPR:167 (internal quotation
omitted). In addition, Epstein was concerned that if a co-conspirator
was charged elsewhere, he might be called to testify, opening him
up to potential charges in a different part of the country. This was
antithetical to the global resolution Epstein sought.
3 The government is right about one thing: the scope of a
particular agreement is under the control of the parties. Opp.14.
As the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers observes
in its amicus brief, federal prosecutors know well how to draft
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