Ghislaine Maxwell appeals sentence, argues she was immune from prosecution

Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers argued that her sex trafficking conviction should be thrown out because of a federal agreement reached with Jeffery Epstein 15 years ago.

Ghislaine Maxwell‘s lawyers argued in court papers Tuesday that the British socialite’s 20-year sentence for sex trafficking should be thrown out, or a new trial ordered, because of an agreement that federal prosecutors reached with Jeffery Epstein 15 years ago.

Maxwell, 61, is the former associate and girlfriend of Epstein — a registered sex offender — and was convicted for helping procure young women and teenage girls for Epstein and his clients to sexually abuse. Epstein died in an apparent suicide in prison while awaiting trial.

The filing submitted by Maxwell’s lawyers to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argued that her conviction should be overturned because she should have been immune from prosecution.

It claims that prosecutors never should have been able to press their case against Maxwell because of a deal Epstein reached in September 2007 with federal prosecutors in Florida that protected not only himself from prosecution but “any potential coconspirators.”

That 2007 non-prosecution agreement arose after authorities investigated claims that women and girls were being abused at Epstein Palm Beach mansion.

Epstein, in exchange for immunity, pleaded guilty the next year to a Florida state prostitution charge and served 13 months in jail. That arrangement is now widely considered too lenient.

Maxwell’s appeal cited a slew of other judicial errors that she claims tainted her trial and revived an earlier, unsuccessful argument that Maxwell is being scapegoated for Epstein’s crimes.

“The government prosecuted Ms Maxwell as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein” to satisfy “public outrage,” wrote Maxwell’s lawyer Arthur Aidala. He added that prosecutors colluded with Maxwell’s accusers “to develop new allegations out of faded, distorted, and motivated memories.”