New York City – A lawyer representing Ghislaine Maxwell, the associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein who was convicted of federal sex-trafficking charges, is urging a judge to throw out her conviction. The lawyer argues that a controversial non-prosecution agreement Epstein made with a U.S. attorney in Florida in 2007 should also protect Maxwell.
Maxwell, a 62-year-old socialite, was found guilty in December 2021 of recruiting and grooming underage girls for sexual abuse over a period of 10 years. Her attorney, Diana Fabi Samson, presented her case before three judges for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, asserting that the provision in Epstein’s plea deal that protected potential co-conspirators also renders Maxwell’s conviction invalid.
This argument mirrors one previously made by Epstein’s lawyers following his arrest in 2019. Samson argued that denying the validity of the agreement would erode trust between the government and its citizens regarding plea agreements. However, Judge Raymond Lohier expressed skepticism about Samson’s interpretation, stating that the Justice Department’s manual on non-prosecution agreements seemed to suggest otherwise.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Rohrbach, representing the prosecution, also disputed the argument, stating that he was unaware of any deal reached by one prosecutor’s office that required all other federal prosecutors to adhere to it.
Maxwell is currently serving her 20-year prison sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. She was convicted on five out of six counts of sex trafficking and enticing minors as young as 14 to be abused by Epstein. Maxwell’s appeal is now being considered by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The plea deal that is at the center of Maxwell’s appeal concerns Epstein’s case in 2006, when he pleaded guilty to two federal sex trafficking charges and was sentenced to just 13 months in jail. This lenient punishment was in exchange for registering as a sex offender and paying restitution to the victims. An investigation by the Miami Herald revealed that Epstein was granted work releases during his sentence, allowing him to leave jail and spend his days at his office.
Maxwell’s plea for her conviction to be thrown out based on the non-prosecution agreement now rests on the decision of the appellate court. The outcome of the appeal will have implications for Maxwell’s case and may shed further light on the controversial plea agreement that Epstein made over a decade ago.