U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, Southern District of New York. Photo: David Handschuh/ALM

New York federal prosecutors say they aren't bound by a deal signed by Miami federal prosecutors who agreed not to pursue sexual abuse charges against wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.

A two-count indictment was unsealed Monday charging Epstein with exploiting dozens of underage girls at his opulent homes in New York and Palm Beach. A forfeiture request covers his Manhattan mansion.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman of the Southern District of New York said the decade-old nonprosecution agreement between Epstein and Southern District of Florida prosecutors didn't affect his office's ability to indict the former Palm Beach billionaire.

“That agreement only binds, by its terms … the Southern District of Florida. The Southern District of New York is not bound by that agreement and is not a signatory to that agreement,” Berman said at a news conference announcing the new charges.

In a the 13-page indictment, New York prosecutors charged Epstein paid girls as young as 14 from 2002 to 2005 to perform nude or seminude massages, which became “increasingly sexual” in nature, with Epstein typically masturbating and molesting his victims.

Epstein paid some victims “hundreds of dollars” to recruit other young girls to the network, allowing him to create “an ever-expanding web of new victims.” Epstein pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy and trafficking, Berman said.

Epstein, 66, is known for his connections to powerful figures across the political spectrum ranging from President Donald Trump to former President Bill Clinton as well as Prince Andrew.

In 2007, Epstein signed a secret agreement with federal prosecutors in Miami shielding him and his alleged accomplices from federal prosecution in a case alleging they ran a child sex ring out of Epstein's Palm Beach mansion from 1999 to 2007.

In exchange for the deal, Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges and served 13 months in a Palm Beach County work-release program allowing him to leave for work. Epstein faced a possible life sentence and was required to register as a sex offender. His alleged co-conspirators were never charged, and the new indictment makes no mention of others involved.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in West Palm Beach ruled prosecutors led by then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta — now U.S. labor secretary — broke federal law by keeping the agreement secret from Epstein's alleged victims. In a tweet late Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Acosta must step down based on “the unconscionable agreement” with Epstein.

The Justice Department opened an investigation into prosecutor's handling of the plea deal after a series of articles by the Miami Herald drew renewed attention to the case.

Charles Ross, a partner with Mintz & Gold in New York, said Epstein's defense team would likely point to the nonprosecution agreement to argue Berman was barred from bringing the New York case.

That position, he said, could hinge on the underlying agreement and covers certain acts or types of crimes, and attorneys from both sides would be sure to pour over the language with a “fine-tooth comb.”

“The play that Epstein's defense lawyers would have is the breadth that the those nonprosecution agreements confer,” said Ross, who practiced in New York and Florida before joining Mintz & Gold.

“Typically, nonprosecution agreements are limited to the jurisdiction which grants them and writes them, and that's certainly the position of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York,” he said.

Prosecutors in New York alleged a conspiracy that included undisclosed Epstein employees setting up “appointments” with underage girls on his behalf. One person in New York, identified in the indictment as Employee-2, called victims before Epstein traveled to Florida to make sure the encounters were set up when he arrived, the filing said.

Ross said the conspiracy count allowed the Southern District to reach acts outside of Manhattan, and contacts between alleged co-conspirators in New York and victims in Florida would help prosecutors make their case for jurisdiction.

“Certainly, the Southern District of New York can reach acts outside of the Southern District of New York. What they need is acts that take place within the the Southern District,” he said.

Epstein was taken into custody Saturday at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after arriving on his private jet from Paris. His arrest followed an investigation by the FBI, the public-corruption unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the New York City Police Department.

Berman declined to comment about the involvement of the public-corruption unit and said he would not discuss “speculation” regarding high-profile people associated with Epstein.

Epstein is held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan pending a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.

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