HOUSE OVERSIGHT 023128 by Acosta, stitched together an unusual immunity deal that allowed Epstein to escape what could have been a life sentence in federal prison. U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has been criticized for the plea deal he worked out with Jeffrey Epstein. Acosta was U.S. attorney for Southern Florida at the time. Alan Diaz Instead, Epstein — whose friends included President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and other politically connected people — was allowed to quietly plead guilty to prostitution charges in state court. He served 13 months in the county jail, where he was allowed liberal work release privileges rarely given to sex offenders in Florida and barred by the Palm Beach Sheriffs Department's own rules. He was released in 2009, but his victims — who were 13 to 16 years old at the time — are still fighting more than a decade later to have his non-prosecution agreement overturned. In his op-ed, Sloman called Acosta "an outstanding public servant ... at risk of becoming collateral damage in Washington's latest polarized conflagration," adding, "I won't let it happen without first being heard." Jeffrey Epstein apologizes, but not to his victims Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire who molested dozens of underage girls, and is suspected of trafficking countless other girls around the world, issued a public apology Tuesday. It was not to the victims of his abuse, but to one of their lawyers.