Ghislaine Maxwell Loses Supreme Court Appeal, 20-Year Sentence Stands
The US Supreme Court has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempt to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction.
The court did not give a reason for refusing her appeal. This means Maxwell’s 20-year prison sentence will remain in place unless a president decides to pardon her.
Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said her legal team was “deeply disappointed” by the decision, but they will keep trying other legal options to “make sure justice is done.”
Maxwell, a former British socialite, was found guilty in 2021 for helping her boyfriend, financier Jeffrey Epstein, abuse underage girls. Prosecutors said she recruited and groomed girls, some as young as 14, between 1994 and 2004, before they were abused by Epstein.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 but died in prison before facing trial.
Maxwell’s lawyers argued that she should never have been put on trial or convicted, but the appeal was denied.
There has been speculation that former President Donald Trump might pardon Maxwell, but the White House has stated that no such leniency is being considered.
In July, Maxwell was questioned by US federal agents about what she knew of Epstein’s trafficking network and whether others were involved. During those interviews, she said she never saw Trump behave inappropriately with Epstein.
After the interviews, she was moved to a minimum-security women’s prison in Texas called FPC Bryant, located about 100 miles (160 km) from Austin.
The Justice Department has not yet commented on the Supreme Court’s decision.
