Jeffrey Epstein plea hearing moved to March

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Jeffrey Epstein plea hearing moved to March

## By MICHELE DARGAN

Daily News Staff Writer

Thursday, January 03, 2008

A plea hearing for part-time Palm Beacher Jeffrey Epstein will be rescheduled to March, his New York attorney confirmed Wednesday.

The Manhattan money manager is expected to plead guilty to a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. The hearing originally was scheduled for Friday.

Sources have confirmed that the deal will put Epstein in prison for 18 months, followed by house arrest.

"The plea conference will be moved to March, but it will be resolved, we believe," attorney Gerald Lefcourt said by phone.

Although he declined to give a reason, Lefcourt said the date change was agreed to by both the defense and the prosecution.

Mike Edmondson, spokesman for State Attorney Barry Krischer, declined to comment.

"It's a matter of policy we don't comment on active cases," Edmondson said.

In exchange for his guilty plea, federal authorities are expected to drop their probe into whether Epstein broke any federal laws, sources have said.

Epstein, 54, was indicted in July 2006 on a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. After completing an 11-month investigation, Palm Beach police said Epstein paid five underage girls for massages and sometimes sex at his El Brillo Way home.

The investigation began after police received a call from a woman who said her 14-year-old stepdaughter might have been molested by a man in Palm Beach.

Investigators watched Epstein's 7,234-square-foot waterfront home and private jet, and rummaged through his trash to build their case. They took sworn statements from five alleged victims and 17 witnesses.

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Jeffrey Epstein plea hearing moved to March

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