Ghislaine Maxwell to Face Sentencing for Trafficking Minors
Maxwell is being sentenced for her role as Jeffrey Epstein’s aide.
Back in 2019, financier Jeffrey Epstein was indicted for charges of sex trafficking and sexual abuse and sentenced to prison, where he committed suicide. Since then, the courts have been following up on Epstein’s close friend and aide, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was suspected of running a sex trafficking ring to bring Epstein underaged girls. Maxwell was convicted for five counts against her in December, and today she will be sentenced.
Maxwell will be sentenced on three of the counts after the judge agreed that two of them were redundant. At the time of writing, Maxwell’s sentence has not been divulged, but prosecutors in the case are pushing for 30 to 55 years in prison. Maxwell’s lawyers have countered with a call for a more lenient 4.25 and 5.25 years in prison, believing Maxwell should not face a punishment of equal severity to Epstein’s.
“Ms. Maxwell has already experienced hard time during detention under conditions far more onerous and punitive than any experienced by a typical pretrial detainee, and she is preparing to spend significantly more time behind bars,” Maxwell’s lawyers said. “Her life has been ruined. Since Epstein’s death, her life has been threatened and death threats continue while she is incarcerated.”
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be sentenced Tuesday for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
The sentencing is the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how the couple lured and exploited girls as young as 14. https://t.co/fV4KbQUGrR
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 28, 2022
Over the course of Maxwell’s trial, she was identified by numerous women who spoke of the pressure she put on them and the abuse they suffered at Epstein’s hands as a direct result of her actions.
“Judge Nathan, I hope when you consider the appropriate prison sentence for the role Maxwell played in this sex trafficking operation, you take into account the ongoing suffering of the many women she abused and exploited as we will continue to live with the memories of the ways she harmed us,” one of the women, Annie Farmer, wrote to the judge. “I hope you weigh the systemic effects of the crimes she perpetrated – the ways that our family members, romantic partners, and friends have been hurt through our suffering.”