Ghislaine Maxwell engaged in a “vital sample of dishonest conduct,” enabled and took part within the abuse of a number of teenage women, and didn’t take accountability for her crimes.
That was the evaluation of the federal prosecutors who introduced a legal case in opposition to the longtime affiliate of Jeffrey Epstein and sent her to prison for 20 years.
Now, three years later — and amid the continued controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s dealing with of the Epstein information — the Division of Justice has determined to method Maxwell, 63, to purportedly study extra about her information of whether or not Epstein’s intercourse trafficking prolonged to individuals apart from himself.
Ghislaine Maxwell attends VIP Night of Dialog for Ladies’s Mind Well being Initiative, Oct. 18, 2016, in New York.
Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Photographs
Prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum after Maxwell’s 2021 conviction gives a frank evaluation of Maxwell’s “monstrous” crimes and casts doubt on her honesty ahead of her meeting with Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche later this week.
“In brief, the defendant has lied repeatedly about her crimes, exhibited an utter failure to just accept accountability, and demonstrated repeated disrespect for the regulation and the Courtroom,” federal prosecutors with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York wrote in June 2022.
Blanche is ready to fulfill with Maxwell within the coming days to doubtlessly study extra info “about anybody who has dedicated crimes in opposition to victims.”
Forward of the assembly, Maxwell’s appellate counsel David Oscar Markus vowed that she would “testify honestly” and thanked President Donald Trump for his “dedication to uncovering the reality on this case.”
Maxwell continues to enchantment her conviction. Her legal professionals have requested the Supreme Courtroom to throw out her case, arguing a non-prosecution settlement that Epstein made with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007 allegedly barred her subsequent prosecution in New York greater than a decade later.
Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche speaks to the media within the Press Briefing Room on the White Home, June 27, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
The Trump administration requested the excessive courtroom earlier this month to deny Maxwell’s petition.
Of their sentencing memo in 2022, protection legal professionals argued Maxwell “shouldn’t bear all of the punishment for which Epstein ought to have been held accountable.”
“Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser, and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his private gratification. Certainly, had Ghislaine Maxwell by no means had the profound misfortune of assembly Jeffrey Epstein over 30 years in the past, she wouldn’t be right here,” they argued.
Prosecutors mentioned Maxwell enabled Epstein and straight participated within the abuse.
In line with prosecutors, the testimony elicited at Maxwell’s trial demonstrated she was an important participant in Epstein’s crimes, providing a veneer of respectability and belief earlier than the convicted intercourse offender abused dozens of teenage women.
She recognized and preyed on weak younger ladies, groomed them to normalize their abuse and took part within the abuse — straight enabling probably the most vital intercourse trafficking operations in US historical past, prosecutors mentioned.
“Maxwell befriended her victims, gained their belief, slowly broke down their boundaries, and normalized sexual abuse,” prosecutors wrote within the the memo. “Maxwell’s victims trusted her: she was a seemingly respectable lady who confirmed curiosity in them and promised to assist them. She was key to your complete operation of the scheme, and Epstein couldn’t have dedicated these crimes with out her.”
This undated trial proof picture obtained December 8, 2021, from the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York reveals British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein.
US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
In line with the federal government’s sentencing memorandum, Maxwell “personally engaged in sexual abuse when she fondled the breasts” of three victims. She was additionally “the one who was most regularly within the room when Epstein abused” one of many victims, who testified below the title Jane.
“Years of sexual abuse, a number of victims, devastating psychological hurt: none of this might have occurred with out Maxwell,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell repeatedly lied to officers, prosecutors mentioned
Prosecutors repeatedly emphasised at trial that Maxwell shouldn’t be trusted, arguing that she “engaged in a major sample of dishonest conduct, which speaks volumes about her character.”
They recognized not less than 4 cases through which Maxwell allegedly lied or made dishonest representations to the authorities or in civil lawsuits.
Throughout a 2016 deposition, she mentioned below oath that she by no means gave Annie Farmer, a sufferer who testified at trial, a therapeutic massage. Farmer’s testimony at trial “established that was a lie,” prosecutors mentioned.
She allegedly lied to courtroom officers throughout an interview about her belongings. When the courtroom denied her bail software, the choose famous that Maxwell “misrepresent[ed] key details to Pretrial Providers and, by extension, the Courtroom.”
Prosecutors mentioned that Maxwell lied in November 2021 when she instructed the courtroom, “I’ve not dedicated any crime” in response to a query about whether or not she engaged in plea discussions with the federal government.
Maxwell additionally falsely claimed she had no belongings when she interviewed with the courtroom’s probation workplace, regardless of having beforehand claimed she had $22 million in belongings. She additionally declined to supply details about the circumstances of her marriage, prosecutors mentioned.
“In brief, the defendant decides when she needs to reveal details to the Courtroom, and people details shift when it serves the defendant’s pursuits,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell profited from relationship with Epstein, prosecutors mentioned
Prosecutors alleged that Maxwell lived a “exceptional lifetime of privilege” and acquired roughly $23 million from Epstein through the timeframe of their alleged crimes.
Maxwell additionally acquired a townhouse in New York from Epstein and benefited from his lavish way of life, prosecutors allege. Epstein additionally bequeathed her $10 million from his property, although Maxwell has not acquired these funds as a result of the property is in probate.
“As a part of a disturbing settlement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell recognized, groomed, and abused a number of victims, whereas she loved a lifetime of extraordinary luxurious and privilege. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims completely scarred with emotional and psychological accidents,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell deflected accountability for her crimes, prosecutors mentioned
At her sentencing, a number of the witnesses who testified at trial urged Decide Alison Nathan to impose a extreme sentence as a result of hurt Maxwell had brought about and her obvious lack of regret.
A witness who testified below the title Kate described Maxwell as “a manipulative, merciless and cruel one who solely makes use of kindness to control and generosity to hunt recognition.”
“The dearth of regret or accountability taken by Ghislaine for a way she ruined the lives of numerous ladies and youngsters is precisely how we are able to inform that she does not suppose what she did is flawed. She isn’t sorry, and he or she would do it once more,” Kate mentioned.
Annie Farmer requested the choose to think about the “ongoing struggling of the numerous ladies whom she abused and exploited” and the way Maxwell’s incapability to just accept the implications of her crimes continued to hurt the victims.
“I ask you to remember how Maxwell’s unwillingness to acknowledge her crimes, her lack of regret and her repeated lies about her victims created the necessity for many people to interact in a protracted struggle for justice that has felt like a black gap sucking in our treasured time, vitality and well-being for a lot too lengthy now, issues that can’t be changed,” Farmer mentioned.
When Maxwell briefly addressed the courtroom, she mentioned that she “empathize[s] deeply with all the victims on this case” and that assembly Epstein years earlier was her “best remorse.”
Her legal professionals have lengthy argued that Maxwell was unfairly focused for Epstein’s crimes after his dying, and her assertion at sentencing echoed that argument.
“Jeffrey Epstein ought to have been right here earlier than all of you. He ought to have stood earlier than you all these years in the past,” she mentioned. “He ought to have stood earlier than you in 2005, once more in 2009, and once more in 2019, all the many instances he was accused, charged, and prosecuted. However right this moment it’s not about Epstein finally. It’s for me to be sentenced and for the victims to deal with me, and me alone, on this courtroom.”
ABC Information’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
