Ghislaine Maxwell makes last ditch plea to quash her sex trafficking conviction
Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell has made a last ditch plea in a bid to quash her sex trafficking conviction.
British socialite Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 on federal charges of trafficking young girls for her billionaire paedophile boyfriend Epstein. But Maxwell is making a bid for freedom, arguing she is covered by a 2007 plea deal that Epstein reached with prosecutors in South Florida.
The murky terms of the deal included that none of his accomplices would be charged in connection with his crimes. Her lawyers filed the appeal and urged the Supreme Court to overturn the conviction.
"This case is about what the government promised, not what Epstein did," Maxwell's lawyers told justices on Monday. Monster Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison over her connection to Epstein's schemes to sexually abuse underage girls.
The New York-based Second US Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled against Maxwell, stating the terms of the agreement made with prosecutors in Florida was not legally binding in New York. The Supreme Court is due to debate the case and is expected to come to a decision in the autumn, CNN reported.
Epstein pleased guilty to prostitution charges in 2008 and went on to be charged on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. He died in his prison cell in 2019 with his death being ruled a suicide.
The ongoing Epstein saga and Maxwell's bid for freedom have proved to be massive thorns in the side of Donald Trump's administration. Multiple members of the Trump administration vowed to release documents that his supporters believed contained the names of powerful people who were connected to Epstein and abused children alongside him.
But a massive twist emerged last month after members of the Trump administration claimed not only was there no list but that Epstein had indeed died by suicide in his Manhattan prison cell. Both statements were met with fury by Trump supporters who believe it was part of a cover up by the administration, despite no evidence existing to suggest this.
Mr Trump further added to the confusing narrative when he refused on multiple occasions to say that he would deny Maxwell a presidential pardon - essentially freeing her from prison should he wish to do so. Mr Trump previously told reporters: "Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but I — nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it. It's in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it."
But Mr Trump's comments have not been welcomed by everyone in his party with US House speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday he would have "great pause" abou granting a pardon to Maxwell.
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