A federal judge in Florida has ruled that Jeffery Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators cannot be prosecuted due to the plea agreement signed by Alexander Acosta, the United States attorney in Miami in 2008.

While Judge Kenneth A. Marra of the Federal District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla., ruled earlier this year that the agreement violated victim rights statutes, that ruling does not make the federal non-prosecution plea deal null and void. Epstein’s suicide precludes reopening that arrangement.

In his ruling Judge Marra left open the question if federal prosecutors in other jurisdictions have the right to go after the convicted sex trafficker’s alleged co-conspirators. Should charges be brought in Manhattan federal court against Ghislaine Maxwell or others, it appears that case would need to be settled in the US Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Federal District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan is expected to rule next month on the release of a thousand more names associated with Epstein in a civil case brought by victim Virginia Giuffre.