Editor:Re "The > Cowardly Labor Secretary" (editorial, March 3):Your editorial's > conclusions are in profound conflict with the reality as we, > Jeffrey Epstein's current and former lawyers, knew it. > Alexander > Acosta, the labor secretary, as United States attorney for > the Southern District of Florida in 2007, oversaw a plea > deal for Mr. Epstein involving charges of solicitation of prostitution involving > young women. Your underlying premise is that Mr. Acosta had > capitulated and not filed federal charges because Mr. > Epstein had a "high-priced defense team." This was categorically > denied by the Southern District's then first assistant, > Jeffrey H. Sloman, in an Op-Ed > article in The Miami Herald on Feb. 15. Mr. Sloman > correctly represented the existence of "significant legal impediments to {federally} prosecuting" what was a quintessentially state case. He also correctly represented that the government had achieved its principal objectives — a felony plea, > incarceration, millions of dollars in > monetary settlements, and lifetime sex offender registration > — through its agreement with Mr. Epstein. That agreement was > reviewed at multiple levels of the Justice Department. An > agreement rather than a trial is how over 97 percent of > federal cases get resolved, > through negotiations by two teams of experienced EFTA00804866