DOJ-OGR-00004408.jpg

Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 293-1 Filed 05/25/21 Page 111 of 349 The parties anticipate that this agreement will not be made part of any public record. If the United States receives a Freedom of Information Act request or any compulsory process commanding the disclosure of the agreement, it will provide notice to Epstein before making that disclosure. !”° VII. SEPTEMBER 24, 2007: ACOSTA MAKES FINAL EDITS, AND THE NPA IS SIGNED The contemporaneous emails show that Villafafia continued to update Acosta as the parties negotiated the final language and that Acosta reviewed and edited the NPA. Shortly after midnight on Monday, September 24, 2007, Acosta sent Villafafia “[s]mall edits” to the “final” NPA she had sent to him. Among his changes was language modifying provisions that appeared to require the State Attorney’s Office or the state court to take specific actions, such as requiring that Epstein enter his guilty plea by a certain date. Acosta explained in his email, “I’m not comfortable with requiring the State Attorney to enter into a [joint sentencing] recommendation” or “requiring a State court to stick with our timeline” for entry of the guilty plea and sentencing. Accordingly, Acosta substituted language that required Epstein alone to make a binding sentencing recommendation to the state court, and required Epstein to use his “best efforts” to enter his guilty plea and be sentenced by the specified dates. Acosta also instructed Villafafia to restore a reference to Epstein’s wish “to reach a global resolution of his state and federal criminal liabilities.” Lourie, who had returned to the Department in Washington, D.C., had a phone conversation with Lefkowitz and sent additional comments on the final draft to Acosta and Villafafia. Villafafia sent a new revision, incorporating edits from Acosta and Lourie, to Lefkowitz later that morning. On the afternoon of September 24, 2007, Villafafia circulated the new “final” version of the NPA to Acosta, Sloman, Lourie, and other supervisors, and asked Lefkowitz to send her the signed agreement. After Lefkowitz electronically transmitted to Villafafia a copy of the NPA signed by Epstein, she emailed her immediate supervisor and her co-counsel: “They have scanned and emailed the signed agreement. It is done.” In his transmittal email, Lefkowitz asked Villafafia to “[p]lease do whatever you can to keep this from becoming public.” Villafafia responded: I have forwarded your message only to Alex, Andy, and [the West Palm Beach manager]. I don’t anticipate it going any further than that. When I receive the originals, I will sign and return one copy to you. The other will be placed in the case file, which will be kept confidential since it also contains identifying information about the girls. When we reach an agreement about the attorney representative for the girls, we can discuss what I can tell him and the girls about the 128 In commenting on OPR’s draft report, Lourie observed that because the NPA contained names of uncharged co-conspirators and other protected information, the USAO would have a duty to redact the information before disclosing the NPA. 84 DOJ-OGR-00004408