Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence Maxwell to 30 to 55 years in prison, which is in line with federal sentencing guidelines, although the watchdog recommended 20 years. Maxwell’s lawyers have called for a milder prison sentence of between 4.25 and 5.25 years, calling it a “parody of justice” if Maxwell faces a more appropriate sentence for Epstein himself. Prior to sentencing, a number of victim impact statements will be read in court. The judge accepted requests from eight women to testify about the impact on the victims, either in writing or in person during the sentencing. Condemnation represents a pivotal moment in an international sexual trafficking case that spans decades and exemplifies the ways in which the rich and powerful can avoid the consequences of their actions. Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, was charged with federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, but died of suicide in prison a month later. Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and longtime associate, has been detained since her arrest in July 2020. Her lawyers say her time behind bars was a “disproportionate pre-trial sentence” that will not end now that she is housed with him. general population. “Ms Maxwell has already experienced difficult times during her detention in conditions much more burdensome and punitive than a typical pre-trial detainee and is preparing to spend much more time behind bars,” Maxwell’s lawyers said in their recommendation. for conviction. “Her life has been ruined. Since Epstein’s death, her life is threatened and life threats continue as long as she is confined.” Prosecutors have challenged Maxwell’s allegations of ill-treatment at the Metropolitan Detention Center. They said in their condemnation that Maxwell “enjoys remarkable privileges as a high-profile detainee far exceeding the benefits provided to the average detainee”, including access to a private shower, TV, desktop computer, laptop and her own space. to spend. time out of her cell. Officials at the Maxwell Detention Center in Brooklyn said she was under suicide surveillance over the weekend because they worried she was “at increased risk of self-injury” before she was sentenced. Prosecutors said Maxwell declined to answer questions from psychology staff about why she feared for her safety, but told staff she had not committed suicide. Prosecutors said the warden told them he would remain on alert for suicide until “he is no longer at increased risk of self-harm.” One inmate wrote a letter to the judge praising Maxwell’s positive interactions with other inmates and her volunteer work teaching yoga and helping inmates obtain their GED diploma. “It is important to know that there are also positive views, some of which are among the inmates of the unit,” the inmate said in her letter.
What happened at the trial
Maxwell’s monthly trial last year alternated between disturbing testimonies from victims of sexual abuse and enlightening testimonies about some of Epstein’s connections with high-profile celebrities. Prosecutors say Maxwell and Epstein conspired to devise a plan to lure young girls into sex with Epstein from 1994 to 2004 in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. Four women testified during the trial that Epstein abused them and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it. Her defense, meanwhile, said she was a “scapegoat” for Epstein’s actions and attacked the memories and motives of women who say they were sexually abused. The prosecution case was based mainly on the testimonies of the four women. Jane, under the pseudonym, said that Maxwell organized a sexual massage with Epstein and sometimes participated in the abuse. The allegations of seduction – for which Maxwell was acquitted – and transfer are solely related to her testimony. Carolyn, who testified using only her first name, said that when she was 14, Maxwell touched her breasts, hips and buttocks and told her “she had a great body for Epstein and his friends.” The count of child sex trafficking – the most serious of all the charges – is related to her testimony. A woman identified as “Kate” testified that Maxwell invited her and showed her how to give a sexual massage to Epstein. He said Maxwell often talked about sex with her and asked Kate to call other young girls for Epstein’s sexual desires. Jurors were instructed that he could not convict Maxwell on any of the charges based solely on Kate’s testimony, as he was over the age of consent at the time of the events, but jurors could consider Kate’s allegations other than testimonies of the other three women. Annie Farmer, the only prosecutor to testify under her full name, said she was 16 when Maxwell massaged her bare breasts at the Epstein ranch in New Mexico in 1996.
Victim Impact Statements say Maxwell facilitated the abuse
Three women submitted written impact statements to the victims and impact statements from five other women are also expected to be read on file. The judge ruled that he would consider these statements to a limited extent, as Maxwell was not charged or convicted in this case in connection with allegations made by these women. In her statement, Farmer asked the judge to consider the lasting effects of Maxwell’s behavior on her victims. “Judge Nathan, I hope that when you consider the appropriate prison sentence for the role that Maxwell played in this sex trafficking operation, you will take into account the continuing suffering of the many women he abused and exploited as we continue to live with the memories of the ways “who hurt us,” he wrote. “I hope you weigh the systemic impact of the crimes he has committed – the ways in which our family members, sexual partners and friends have been hurt by our suffering.” Kate also wrote an impact statement to the victim detailing the manipulation she says she suffered from Maxwell to benefit Epstein. “I have witnessed on many occasions, over the years, Ghislaine Maxwell trying to recruit other girls and making consistent and persistent demands on me and others to do the same,” she wrote. “I saw her relentless and insatiable attempt to meet Epstein’s sexual needs, at any cost to vulnerable girls and women, on whom she breastfed and fed Epstein and other powerful men, to whom she wanted to thank herself. “any ambiguity or doubt that he was fully aware of what was going to happen as soon as he recruited girls,” he said in the victim statement. Virginia Roberts Giuffre did not testify at the trial, but was included as a victim in the indictment and was frequently mentioned during the testimony of witnesses at the trial. She directed her written statement to Maxwell personally. “I want to be clear about one thing: without a doubt, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible pedophile. But I would never have met Jeffrey Epstein if it were not for you,” he wrote. “For me, and for so many others, you opened the door to hell. And then, Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you used your femininity to betray us, and you led us all through it.”
Maxwell lost the effort to withdraw the sentences
In a defense statement, Maxwell’s lawyers said she suffered from a “difficult, traumatic childhood” with a disobedient father, leaving her “vulnerable” to Epstein and that meeting her was “the biggest mistake she has ever made in her life.” Prosecutors described the concept as “irrational and offensive” in their response. “Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She chose to sexually exploit many underage girls. She chose to conspire with Epstein for years, working as accomplices in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims. She must be held accountable for its role in an extensive child exploitation program “, the prosecutor’s note states. “The lenient sentence sought by the accused would send the message that there is a system of laws for the rich and powerful and another for everyone else.” The judge had previously rejected a proposal by Maxwell’s lawyers to lift her convictions for sex trafficking. “The testimony and other evidence from the trial demonstrated the accused’s role in the treatment and recruitment of underage girls and the use of a massage mask to commit sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote in her opinion. Maxwell also lost its bid for a new test earlier this year. Her defense team argued a misdemeanor case against a juror who revealed in media interviews after the trial that she had been sexually abused as a minor, which she failed to reveal in a preliminary jury selection questionnaire. In a 40-page opinion, the judge regretted the juror’s lack of attention, but also noted that the bar for overturning a guilty verdict is high. CNN’s Sonia Moghe, Kara Scannell and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
