Ghislaine Maxwell loses bid to throw out conviction for aiding Jeffrey Epstein

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's attempt to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. The judge stated that Maxwell's claims were meritless and frivolous, based on "speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods."

Maxwell maintained in a habeas petition that information withheld from her and false testimony presented to the jury at her 2021 trial resulted in a "complete miscarriage of justice." However, Judge Engelmayer ruled that her assertions were "demonstrably meritless" and that "no fact that Maxwell fairly puts in dispute has any potential to disturb the outcome of her trial."

Maxwell, a British socialite and former girlfriend of Epstein, was convicted in December 2021 by a federal jury on five counts, including conspiracy to transport minors, transporting a minor, and sex trafficking. Prosecutors presented evidence that she lured and groomed teenage girls for Epstein's abuse. She was arrested in July 2020 and convicted a year later.

Epstein, a millionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, with the death ruled a suicide. Maxwell was interviewed by the Justice Department’s second-in-command, Todd Blanche, and subsequently moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas.