Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team will argue her accusers had ‘pale distorted and motivated memories’ as she begins her appeal of a 20-year sentence handed down to her in 2022 for aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophile ring.
Maxwell, 62, was described as ‘dangerous’ during her trial as jurors were told details of how she helped lure vulnerable teenagers to Epstein’s various properties for him to sexually abuse.
One of the details that Maxwell’s lawyers will argue surrounded juror Scotty David, who allegedly failed to disclose that he had been sexually abused in his pre-trial questionnaire.
Judge Alison Nathan said at sentencing that Maxwell was ‘central’ to Epstein’s heinous crimes, not a ‘proxy’.
“Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a central role in facilitating sexual abuse,” the judge said.
Earlier this month, MailOnline reported that Maxwell was ‘focused and motivated’ for her appeal. The disgraced socialite is serving time in a minimum security prison in Tallahassee.
Maxwell’s close relationship with Epstein was well-documented publicly over the years, but she still denies knowledge of the dead financier’s crimes
‘Judge Alison Nathan said at sentencing that Maxwell was ‘central’ to Epstein’s heinous crimes, not an ‘proxy’
“It is unusual for someone to have such an understanding of a complex case like this. It is unique. But she is focused and motivated, and that motivates us. It definitely puts fire in our bellies,’ said her brother Ian.
Lawyers for the US government said Maxwell’s appeals arguments ‘fall far short of establishing that Judge Nathan abused his discretion’ in his decision not to overturn the jury’s verdict.
They will also argue that her sentence was not unfair and that her arguments to the contrary are ‘so shallow and undeveloped’ that they should be rejected.
She was convicted of five felonies, including sex trafficking of minors, conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in unlawful sexual acts, and conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Maxwell has been incarcerated since July 2020, despite several attempts by her defense attorney to have her released on bail.
In January, DailyMail.com revealed that Maxwell had told her fellow prison inmates to ignore the reports and promised she would write memoirs with ‘the truth’, although this is expected to be an attempt to whitewash her involvement.
A source claimed that Maxwell, who was a close associate of Epstein for years, claimed that “the documents in the news are all false or misinformation” and “the truth will only come out when her book does.”
The insider said: ‘She’s bragging about how amazing it will be, but it sounds like the same old lies she’s told a thousand times.
‘She really believes that she has done nothing wrong and that her charges will be dropped when people read it.’
In a self-imposed prison interview last year, she denied knowledge of the dead financier’s crimes, insisting she regretted ever meeting him and had no idea he was ‘capable of evil’.
But hundreds of documents made public in January related to a long-settled libel case filed against Maxwell by Prince Andrew prosecutor Virginia Giuffre mock her claims of innocence.
Dozens of celebrities, including Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Donald Trump and Stephen Hawking, were touted as being friends or associates of the late predator, who hanged himself behind bars in 2019 rather than face trial.
But several testimonies from victims and former Epstein aides insisted once again that Maxwell was the ‘boss’ of his underage sex ring, drawing the same conclusion as jurors at her New York trial.
Maxwell’s dire financial situation and incarceration is a striking fall from grace for the late media baron Robert Maxwell’s favorite daughter. Pictured: General views of FCI Tallahassee
Early reports revealed how the disgraced British socialite struggled to cope with her new life behind bars, refusing to eat and complaining bitterly to prison authorities that her clothes did not fit
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The death was ruled a suicide.
Last month, it was reported that grand jury transcripts from a 2006 Florida investigation into underage girls will be released publicly later this year under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A local judge cited the new law to deny release of the records for now.
The measure, which takes effect July 1, would provide a limited exception to the secrecy that generally surrounds grand jury testimony in specific cases, such as the one involving Epstein, DeSantis said at a signing ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida, where many of the crimes took place in Epstein’s home.
“There needs to be a mechanism in some of these rare circumstances where people can get the truth,” the Republican governor said. ‘It is in the interest of justice to reveal this. We don’t think we can just turn a blind eye’.
It is infamous that Trump’s Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, signed a comfortable deal for Epstein.
In 2008, it allowed him to escape more serious federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.
He was sentenced to 18 months in the Palm Beach County Jail System, followed by 12 months of house arrest. He had to be registered as a sex offender.
“What happened was clearly wrong and the punishment was completely inadequate for the crime,” DeSantis said.
Epstein was indicted in 2018 on federal sex-trafficking charges — where he also had a mansion that was the scene of abuse — after the Miami Herald published a series of articles that renewed public focus on the case, including interviews with some victims who had pursued civil lawsuits. lawsuits against him.
Maxwell, who procured minors for sex offenders and one-time boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, has reportedly denied reports of the recently released trove of court documents naming his associates to her friends in prison, insiders say.