Ghislaine Maxwell, the former British socialite convicted of sex trafficking, has asked a federal appeals court to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence, arguing that a plea agreement made by Jeffrey Epstein with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007 should have protected her from prosecution.
On Tuesday, Maxwell's attorney, Diana Fabi Samson, presented this argument before a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The plea agreement applies to preclude this prosecution," Samson stated. "Denying the viability of this plea agreement strikes a dagger in the heart of the trust between the government and its citizens regarding plea agreements."
However, the prosecutors maintained that the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan was not bound by the prior agreement with Epstein. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Rohrbach argued, "The central promise in the non-prosecution agreement is a promise by the Southern District of Florida not to prosecute Epstein in that district. This is a document entered into by the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of Florida intended to bind the Southern District of Florida and that district alone."
During the oral arguments, Circuit Judge Raymond Lohier repeatedly challenged Samson's claim that the Florida agreement should have protected Maxwell in New York. Lohier pointed out that while the deal identified several individuals besides Epstein who should have been protected, Maxwell was not among them. He also noted that the Department of Justice manual on non-prosecution agreements suggests that each U.S. attorney's office's decisions do not require other offices to conform.
Maxwell, 62, is currently serving her sentence at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, where she has access to yoga, Pilates, and movies. She was arrested in 2020, a year after Epstein's death by suicide in a federal lockup while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
During Maxwell's trial in December 2021, several women who were sexually abused by Epstein testified that Maxwell played a crucial role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls for her former boyfriend to abuse between 1994 and 2004. The abuse took place at Epstein's residences, including a Manhattan mansion, the Virgin Islands, and a large estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
In her written appeal, Maxwell's attorneys argued that she was made a "proxy" for Epstein to "satisfy public outrage" about his conduct. They also claimed that she was denied a fair trial, in part because one of the jurors failed to disclose his own history of sexual abuse during jury selection. However, these points were not raised during the oral arguments.
Attorney Sigrid McCawley, representing trial witness Annie Farmer, stated that the appeals arguments did not change "the fact that she does not get a free pass and her conviction should be upheld." Farmer, now a psychologist, testified at the trial and spoke at Maxwell's sentencing about the abuse she experienced from Epstein and Maxwell.
The appeals court reserved its decision on whether to overturn Maxwell's conviction and sentence. If the conviction stands, Maxwell will be eligible for release in 2037. The case has drawn significant attention due to the high-profile nature of the individuals involved and the severity of the crimes committed.
