US government urges appeals court to uphold Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction and 20-year sentence after disgraced socialite launched bid to dismiss the case
- Maxwell, 61, could be behind bars until 2037 unless she overturns convictions
- READ MORE: Ghislaine Maxwell files more than 400 complaints behind bars
The US government has urged the appeals court to uphold Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction and 20-year sentence for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, after the disgraced socialite launched a bid to dismiss the case.
In a filing with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Thursday night, federal prosecutors said none of Maxwell’s legal arguments about the fairness of her trial held merit.
‘The government’s evidence at trial established that over the course of a decade, Maxwell facilitated and participated in the sexual abuse of multiple young girls,’ prosecutors said.
The 61-year-old sex trafficker is behind bars in Tallahassee, Florida, after a Manhattan jury convicted her in December 2021 on five charges for recruiting and grooming four girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell – federal prisoner 02879-509 – will be nearly 80 by the time she’s freed unless she can overturn her convictions for helping her ex-lover, Epstein, abuse girls. Hundreds of women have said he abused them.
Maxwell, 61, is behind bars in Tallahassee, Florida, after a Manhattan jury convicted her in December 2021 on five charges
The disgraced British socialite is still having trouble adapting to her grim life behind bars after being surrounded by luxury and wealth for most of her life
The daughter of disgraced UK newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell was sentenced to two decades behind bars in June last year.
Her life in prison is worlds away from the plush existence she grew up with and experienced as one of billionaire financier Epstein’s cronies.
She has been branded the ultimate ‘prison Karen’ for filing more than 400 complaints about her life behind bars, DailyMail.com revealed yesterday.
Maxwell has slated the lackluster vegan menu options, whined about ‘unfair treatment’, and demanded that authorities at her federal prison in Florida give her immediate access to black hair dye.
Now appealing her lengthy sentence, Maxwell accused prosecutors of making her a scapegoat because Epstein was dead and ‘public outrage’ demanded that someone else absorb the blame.
Epstein committed suicide at age 66 in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Maxwell is locked up at FCI Tallahassee, which could be her home until July 2037
Her lawyers also offered several arguments for dismissing the case or granting a new trial.
These included that Maxwell was immune from prosecution, prosecutors waited too long to charge her, and Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement arising from alleged abuse at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion also immunized her.
The lawyers also said one juror should have disclosed before trial that he had been sexually abused as a child.
Maxwell’s accusers have said she and Epstein at first made them feel welcome in their orbit, before Epstein began demanding sexualized massages.
Others who were friendly with Epstein have seen their reputations tarred or ruined, among them Britain’s Prince Andrew and former JPMorgan Chase executive and Barclays chief executive Jes Staley.
JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, which both had Epstein as a client, are paying a combined $365 million to Epstein’s accusers over their work for him.
The US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, is also suing JPMorgan.
Maxwell is eligible for release in July 2037, with credit for good behavior and the two years she spent in jail before being imprisoned.
Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for Maxwell, was not immediately available for comment outside business hours.
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