Federal prosecutors want Ghislaine Maxwell to be sentenced to 30 years in prison

Late last week, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers issued their brief to the federal court on sentencing. Maxwell is asking for the minimum sentencing possible after she was found guilty of multiple counts of trafficking and abuse. Maxwell’s defense (in the sentencing brief) is that her daddy was mean to her sometimes and that she was ripe for Jeffrey Epstein’s exploitation too. Except her argument makes zero sense. Federal prosecutors just released their sentencing brief and obviously, they’re not buying it either. Maxwell will be sentenced next Tuesday. (“C U Next Tuesday!”)

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, writing that Ghislaine Maxwell had made the choice to conspire with Jeffrey Epstein for years, “working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims,” asked a judge on Wednesday night to sentence her to at least 30 years in prison.

Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers, in a brief last week, asked the judge, Alison J. Nathan, to impose a sentence below the 20 years recommended by the court’s probation department. The lawyers suggested that the government had decided to prosecute Ms. Maxwell after Mr. Epstein’s jailhouse suicide in 2019 to appease his victims and “repair the tarnished reputations” of the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons, in whose custody the disgraced financier died.

The defense also suggested that blame for Ms. Maxwell’s conduct lay with Mr. Epstein and her father, the late British media magnate Robert Maxwell, who they said was a cruel and intimidating parent. The government, in its letter on Wednesday to Judge Nathan, dismissed those claims, asserting that if anything stood out from Ms. Maxwell’s sentencing submission, it was her failure to address her criminal conduct and her “utter lack of remorse.”

“Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility,” the office of Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote, “the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can.”

The prosecutors said Ms. Maxwell’s attempt “to cast aspersions on the government for prosecuting her, and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epstein’s crimes, are both absurd and offensive…Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices,” the government added. “She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls.”

[From The NYT]

Yep. I mean, just because the prosecutors want 30 years, doesn’t mean they’ll get it. But I’m glad they’re calling out Ghislaine’s Mean Daddy defense/rationale/excuse. Maxwell’s lack of remorse is frightening. She wasn’t an innocent bystander, she was an active participant (and organizer) for a huge human trafficking operation. Maxwell was often abusing those girls and women before she handed them off to Epstein. Now, do I also want to see Epstein’s rapist buddies prosecuted? Of course. This isn’t either/or. You can be appalled by Maxwell’s crimes and also want the wealthy, well-connected men to be named, prosecuted and put in prison.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.

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19 Responses to “Federal prosecutors want Ghislaine Maxwell to be sentenced to 30 years in prison”

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  1. Merricat says:

    I hope they throw away the key.

    • MeganC says:

      I hope so, too, but I don’t trust the judicial system when it comes to rich white people.

  2. TIFFANY says:

    So her defense attorneys sentence briefing was, ‘F*** them kids’.

    Got it.

  3. Betsy says:

    I *hope* she gets a lengthy sentence, but I am bummed that it seems like the men are going to skate. I guess Epstein got the death penalty extra judicially, but that was only because it seemed he was going to start giving up some names.

    The victims are still out there. A few might have died of suicide or car accidents and every so often young people get cancer or have heart attacks, but the women are out there.

    • Beech says:

      Ok what’s the thing about sher sentence in the UK thus serving a far shorter sentence there? Is there a chance she will do time in the US?

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Beech, I’m not an attorney, but my understanding is when someone, who is not a US citizen, is convicted of a crime they serve their time and then are deported. I don’t know why she would be treated differently???

        I just read further down, and you’ll find answers to your question.

  4. C-Shell says:

    As loathsome as Epstein was, Maxwell is worse in many ways, and yes, she sexually abused those girls, too. Her crimes, like his, are countless and immense. Her depravity has earned her worse than spending the rest of her life in prison, but that’s what the court needs to inflict.

  5. Beech says:

    Ok what’s the thing about her doing her sentence in the UK thus serving a far shorter sentence there? Is there a chance she will do time instead in the US?

    • Shoshone says:

      Yes, our courts can sentence her to 20 years but if she is transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of her time the UK will then have the discretion to do whatever they wish with her. Aside from continuing to confine her in prison their options also include home confinement or parole/probation or even outright release. This has been the reason for the constant complaints about her jail conditions and her health. They have been laying the groundwork for this international custody transfer since the jump.

      • Lizzie Bathory says:

        Ghislaine is definitely hoping for a transfer, but my understanding is that she first has to exhaust all of her appeals AND New York would have to agree to the transfer. Even then, the UK doesn’t have to agree to it. And honestly, with everything else going on in the UK, Ghislaine already being convicted & Prince Andrew being a pariah, I don’t know why any authorities in the UK would be eager to welcome Ghislaine home. It’s more convenient for everyone (other than the Maxwells) if she’s in a US prison.

    • jo73c says:

      Prisoners in the UK with good behaviour can be released on parole after 1/2 their sentence, regardless of the crime.

  6. Kim says:

    She’s worse than Epstein, my pov coming from experience with my step mother who had a similar relationship with a male, my stepfather (who I thought was my real father at the time). It was from age 9 until I was 13. My trauma centers on the her, her betrayal and the mental, emotional abuse I still struggle to untangle today (35 years later). The male was abhorrent but he didn’t play her mind games.

    The level of ENTITLEMENT that people such as these possess. They’re not wired for remorse. Incarceration with for the maximum with no parole, that’s my opinion for her sentencing.

  7. Lex says:

    It’s pretty wild that SVU covered Epstein/Maxwell what.. 15 years ago… and it took THIS long for someone to like almost see justice. Don’t really see Epstein’s murder as justice… wouldve been better if he rotted in a disgusting prison for life

  8. Sonia says:

    Well, I want the buyers named and prosecuted also so….there ya go.

  9. Elo says:

    I hope she gets the max – that said, surely they are going to arrest some more men too. I don’t want this to be all that comes from this case- but I feel like it will be.

  10. Renae says:

    Rupert is getting divorced. Perhaps Maxwell can be wife #5? He can visit her in prison and keep her commissary full.
    This is a woman who would likely actually sleep with the miserable old coot.
    They deserve each other. 🤑😳😈

  11. Julia K says:

    When does she start naming names? If they dangle the transfer carrot in front of her may be we can finally know who else is involved. I have heard that her life expectancy will be really short if she starts talking, but in the U.K. they can do a better job of keeping her secure.