Washington (CNN) When he was a US attorney in Florida, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta gave accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein the "deal of a lifetime," the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

In a sweeping review of the politically connected multimillionaire's case, the Herald explained how Acosta made an agreement with Epstein to avoid major repercussions for the hedge fund manager, even though a federal investigation identified 36 underage victims.

The report said Acosta forged a deal with one of Epstein's attorneys where he pleaded to two state prostitution charges, ultimately serving only 13 months and avoiding a federal trial. The agreement, the Herald said, "essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe" and further granted immunity to "any potential co-conspirators" in the case.

Epstein also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.

The paper said it learned that Epstein provided information to federal investigators, but did not detail what the information was. It did note, however, that the Epstein case occurred around the same time as the economic crisis of 2008 and that records showed Epstein was a witness in the prosecution of executives at the failed investment bank Bear Stearns.

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