Ghislaine Maxwell hires Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers as she launches $10million appeal against 20-year jail term for sexual abuse after reaching ‘last-ditch’ divorce settlement with her former husband
- Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for trafficking and sex abuse
- Socialite had been embroiled in ugly divorce settlement with her ex-husband
Ghislaine Maxwell is launching a $10million appeal against her conviction for sexual abuse after reaching a last-ditch divorce settlement with her former husband.
Maxwell’s appeal against her 20-year jail sentence was in serious jeopardy because her ex Scott Borgerson was refusing to release money from her $20million trust.
The British socialite needed money both to pay an outstanding legal fee of $878,302 (£730,712) and fund the lawyers working on her appeal, which needed to be filed by the end of last month.
A breakthrough in talks with Borgerson has drawn a line under the acrimonious dispute, with a source close to the family saying Maxwell, 60, was emboldened by the news.
‘Ghislaine has reached a divorce settlement with her husband Scott Borgerson and is ready to fight back,’ the source said. ‘Her lawyers are confident that she has a strong case for appeal.’
The British socialite needed money both to pay an outstanding legal fee of $878,302 (£730,712) and fund the lawyers working on her appeal, which needed to be filed by the end of last month.
Maxwell and Borgerson reportedly married in 2016, having first met in Iceland in 2013.
Borgerson, an American tech millionaire, took control of what remained of her fortune after she transferred £20 million into a trust fund before her arrest. This included £12.6 million from the sale of her New York home.
In July 2020, Borgerson is said to have ended the relationship over a phone call to the New York prison where Maxwell was awaiting trial over her role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
After she was found guilty on five of six charges relating to trafficking and sexual abuse, he then refused to release money that Maxwell needed to pay Colorado law firm Haddon, Morgan and Foreman and a further $1million required to launch an appeal.
Borgerson rejected claims that he was trying to force an improved payoff from the divorce settlement. Maxwell will receive around $10million from it, most of which will go towards her appeal.
She has engaged Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers to try to overturn her conviction. Arthur L. Aidala, who is representing the disgraced movie mogul Weinstein in his court appeal, told PageSix.com that ‘the trial judge made mistakes’ in Maxwell’s case.
He also said she was ‘mistreated’ during her incarceration, which included her being ‘malnourished’.
In July 2020, Borgerson is said to have ended the relationship over a phone call to the New York prison where Maxwell was awaiting trial over her role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal (Pictured Maxwell and Epstein)
It is understood that Aidala’s appeals process will not be about proving Maxwell’s guilt or innocence, but ‘whether the judge who decided the case made the correct legal ruling’.
The 30-page appeal, which must be filed by February 28, currently runs to 22,000 words. Maxwell’s lawyers are currently cutting it back to meet strict limitations around the length of such documents in United States courts.
The State has three months to respond to the appeal and Maxwell’s legal team have another month to submit their reply. A date will then be decided for the hearing, with each side being given 30 minutes to state their case.
The court is likely to sit in July or September, although this timeline could change at the prosecuting team’s request.
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