Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have officially asked that Ghislaine Maxwell be sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. They wrote that Maxwell had knowingly conspired with Epstein for many years, “working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims,” the New York Times reports.
- Maxwell is due to be sentenced on Tuesday, June 28. The 60-year-old socialite will appear in Federal District Court to face a judge, who may or may not choose to hand down the government’s recommended sentence. If that happens, it’s likely she will spend most if not all of the rest of her life behind bars.
- She was convicted in December 2021. A jury found her guilty of five of the six counts she faced including sex trafficking. The month-long trial saw witnesses and former victims attest to Maxwell’s role in the ring and accused her of helping him recruit, groom, and abuse dozens if not hundreds of underage girls.
- Maxwell’s lawyers are requesting a shorter sentence. In a brief filed last week, they asked Judge Alison J. Nathan to hand down a sentence below that recommended by the government since she was also allegedly a victim and that she should not have to “repair the tarnished reputations” of the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons after Epstein died in their custody.
- Prosecutors dismissed the filing by Maxwell’s lawyers. They cited Maxwell’s “utter lack of remorse” in the wake of the allegations against her and her refusal to accept any responsibility for her actions. “Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility,” the office of Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote, “the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can.” They further claimed she attempted “to cast aspersions on the government for prosecuting her, and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epstein’s crimes, are both absurd and offensive.”
