By the time you read this, Whitewater special prosecutor Kenneth Starr will likely have touched down in Palm Beach, Florida, to meet with federal prosecutors and Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire money manager now facing an indictment and prison time stemming from allegations of sexual crimes with underage girls.

Many insiders believe Starr—the prosecutor in the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal—will work his powerful connections to get Epstein excused of the charges.

Epstein (a past Radar investor with the New York Daily News's Mort Zuckerman) arrived in Palm Beach yesterday on his private 727 to face charges of transporting minors across state lines for prostitution. He was arrested last year and documents were revealed that detailed Epstein's alleged private prostitution ring, in which he'd pay high school girls as young as 14 an average of $300 a pop for erotic massages while he fondled them and masturbated into a towel, often employing the use of brightly colored sex toys. Sources close to the case say Starr, who's still well-connected in Republican circles, has swooped into Palm Beach as well—on Epstein's other private jet—in hopes of striking a deal that would let Epstein go with a wrist slap and no time behind bars.

It's been a long, twisted road leading to this point for the former social scenester, a road many close to the case say was paved with favoritism, backroom deals, and dirty smear tactics by Epstein and his well-connected, high-priced team of attorneys and private investigators. His legal problems began in July 2006, when he was indicted in Palm Beach on one felony count of solicitation of prostitution. His arrest was the result of a 15-month investigation by the Palm Beach police department into allegations that he was soliciting high school girls for sexual massages. According to a number of the police interviews, the naive young girls believed they would be paid only for "massaging an old white guy." But Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter developed a disgust for what he believed to be preferential treatment given to wealthy Epstein in the investigation and had called in the FBI.

According to police documents, on April 17, 2006, Epstein called in Harvard Law professor—and the lawyer who successfully defended Deep Throat actor Harry Reems—Alan Dershowitz and powerful attorney Guy Fronstin, who secured him a plea bargain. Epstein would plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault in exchange for five years probation, a psychiatric evaluation, and no unsupervised visits with minors. In all probability, the man once declared one of the most eligible bachelors in Manhattan would be labeled a pedophile.

But three weeks later, according to a May 4 police report, as authorities were ready to charge Epstein with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with minors and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation, he hired new lawyers, and Palm Beach County State Prosecutor Barry Krischer let them renege on Epstein's deal, the result of events too perfect to attribute to serendipity. (Despite repeated requests, the prosecutor's office would not comment for this story.)

Epstein had spoken with Manhattan criminal attorney Gerald Lefcourt to review his options. Within days, Lefcourt brought in Palm Beach criminal attorney Jack Goldberger who just happened to know state attorney Krischer before he became a prosecutor. But not only was Goldberger friendly with the man prosecuting Epstein, his partner was married to the assistant sex-crimes prosecutor who had been spearheading the Epstein investigation—faced suddenly with the glaring conflict, the sex-crimes investigator resigned from the case. Epstein's deal was abandoned and a new assistant prosecutor was assigned.

Epstein was so thrilled by Goldberger's work that shortly after he was indicted on just a single prostitution charge, he bought the Palm Beach lawyer a black, top-of-the-line 500 series BMW. Less than six weeks later, Goldberger totaled the car in a collision. Makes one wonder what sort of gift would be bestowed upon Starr should he score Epstein a get-out-of-jail free card as early as today. A box of fine cigars, perhaps?