Plea deal
 Plea deal  (contract, statecraft)   | |
|---|---|
| Plea deals are imports elements of statecraft. They offer a lot of freedom to keep people out of jail or to prevent exposure of deep events or deep state operatives. |
A plea deal (or plea bargain) is a legal agreement in which defendants admit guilt to one or more of the charges, in return for a dropping of the remainder and/or a lighter sentence than they might have otherwise received.
Contents
Selective prosecution
Plea deals provide a degree of judicial discretion which is helpful to the deep state. Deep state operatives can be given deliberately light sentences, or given blanket immunity from prosecution (both of which happened in the Epstein Affair).
Avoiding a trial
In some countries, particularly the US, the majority of defendants reach a plea deal. This encouraging the prosecution to press a lot of charges, which can then be used as bargaining chips, relatively confident that they will never need to be proved in court.
Historical examples
Orlando Letelier/Assassination
- Full article: Orlando Letelier/Assassination
- Full article: Orlando Letelier/Assassination
CIA assassin Michael Townley was given 62 months in prison and immunity from future prosecution for other activities.
MLK Assassination
- Full article: MLK/Assassination
- Full article: MLK/Assassination
James Earl Ray was the patsy for the MLK assassination. He initially planned to contest the charges, but after his lawyer warned him that ill health meant that he couldn't give him as good a defense as he wanted to, he was persuaded to plead guilty as a tactic of avoid the death penalty. James Earl Ray later called this decision the biggest mistake of his life.[citation needed]
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew was fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation after a deal in which he pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion,[1] part of a negotiated resolution to a scheme wherein he was accused of accepting more than $100,000 in bribes[2] Ex- Maryland attorney general Stephen H. Sachs termed this "the greatest deal since the Lord spared Isaac on the mountaintop."[3]
Kyle Foggo
In September 2007 Kyle Foggo, CIA Executive Director, plead guilty to one count of wire fraud for "depriving the United States and its citizens of their right to his honest services." In exchange, prosecutors dropped the 27 other charges against him, including money laundering and conspiracy.
Jeffrey Epstein
- Full article: Jeffrey Epstein Affair
- Full article: Jeffrey Epstein Affair
Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges of sexual abuse of over 100 minors, was cut the "deal of a lifetime" to plea guilty to one charge. Epstein served 13 months in a low security prison with special privileges.[citation needed]
Immunity from prosecution
Epstein's plea deal granted a blanket immunity to all co-conspirators, named an unnamed. The prosecutor who cut the deal, Alfreda Acosta, faced criticism after it was ruled illegal[4] in February 2019 and resigned as US Labor secretary.
Related Quotation
| Page | Quote | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Acosta | “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone” | Alexander Acosta |
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:The Happiest of Days | blog post | 25 June 2024 | Craig Murray | Craig Murray: "I should be plain I have always advised Julian and Stella to take a plea deal if offered and get out of jail. I have no doubt this was a life or death choice." |
References
- ↑ Agnew, Spiro T., Go Quietly....or else, p. 15.
- ↑ Agnew, Spiro T.,Go Quietly...or else, pp. 16–17.
- ↑ Patrick Mondout Veep Spiro Agnew Resigns Super70s.com
- ↑ Not because of leniency, but because Epstein's victims were not informed of it
