Epstein sex abuse scandal case: US Supreme Court rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempt to overturn conviction

The US Supreme Court on Monday (October 6) declined to hear British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal seeking to overturn her 2021 conviction for aiding the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in sexually abusing teenage girls. By rejecting the appeal, the justices left intact a lower court ruling upholding Maxwell’s 20-year prison sentence.

Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, was arrested in 2020 and found guilty by a New York jury in 2021 on charges including sex trafficking of minors. Her lawyers argued that her prosecution was invalid, citing a 2007 non-prosecution and plea agreement that federal prosecutors made with Epstein in Florida, which they claimed also shielded his associates from criminal liability.

David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, said, “We’re, of course, deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s case. But this fight isn’t over. Serious legal and factual issues remain, and we will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that justice is done.”

Background of Maxwell and Epstein case

Maxwell was accused of recruiting and grooming girls for sexual encounters with Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, fueling ongoing conspiracy theories due to his high-profile social connections and the circumstances of his death.

Maxwell’s appeal centered on the 2007 plea deal Epstein struck in Florida, in which he pleaded guilty to state-level charges of soliciting prostitution, including minors, and served 13 months in a minimum-security facility. The agreement stated that the US government would not pursue charges against any co-conspirators of Epstein. Maxwell’s lawyers argued the deal should have barred her prosecution in New York.

Attempts to overturn her conviction in trial court and the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals were unsuccessful.