Memorandum Subject Date MemorandumApri I 21, 2008 Office of Professional Responsibility: Self-Report of Allegation of Conflict of Interest To From H. Marshall Jarrett, Counsel Office of Professional ResponsibilityAssistant U.S. Attorney Southern District of Florida cc: R. Alexander Acosta United States Attorney Southern District of Florida Introduction This memorandum sets forth an allegation of a conflict of interest in connection with an ongoing investigation of Jeffrey Epstein ("Epstein"). The investigation is named Operation Leap Year. As part of pre-indictment plea negotiations, the parties agreed that the victims would be allowed to collect civil damages from Epstein and that Epstein would provide counsel for the victims. I provided Epstein's counsel with a series of possible attorneys, including Humberto Ocariz ("Ocariz"), who is a friend of my boyfriend,-'). At the time, I identified Ocariz as a friend of a close friend. Epstein's attorneys rejected the other suggestions and selected Ocariz. After conferring with the First Assistant and the U.S. Attorney, we decided that, despite the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, the Office should not be responsible for selecting the attorney to represent the victims, and that a Special Master, working pro bono, should make the selection. Accordingly, the matter was submitted to a Special Master, and Ocariz was not selected as the attorney for the victims. Despite this resolution, Epstein's counsel continue to allege that my suggestion of Ocariz to serve as counsel for the victims represents a conflict of interest. Therefore, I am self-reporting this allegation for review by the Office of Professional Responsibility. Background of Investigation Operation Leap Year is a child exploitation investigation where the main target, Jeffrey Epstein, used his personal assistants and others as "recruiters" who would find high school girls, most of whom were minors, to travel to his home in Pal