ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal appeals court decided Friday to reconsider claims that Florida federal prosecutors violated the rights of Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse victims by not informing them about a secret plea deal.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in Atlanta, vacated a previous panel's 2-1 decision rejecting an effort to undo an agreement federal prosecutors made with Epstein more than a decade ago.
According to a report from the Miami Herald, it was revealed that former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who resigned from his post last July, cut a deal with Epstein that kept him out of prison when he was a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida.
Instead of facing federal charges, Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to lesser state crimes and served a short jail sentence.
Some victims have long claimed the Miami U.S. attorney's office violated their rights by not informing them of the plea deal.
Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell last August.
