Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Maxwell must pay a $750,000 fine, a $300 assessment fee, and is subject to five years of supervised release after her sentence has been served.
LONG ISLAND, New York - Ghislaine Maxwell, former pimp and partner-in-crime to notorious child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday by Judge Alison J. Nathan at 40 Foley Square's Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in Manhattan.
"The sentencing submissions did not express remorse or accept responsibility. Ms. Maxwell is entitled to exercise her right to go to trial. But I will take into account her lack of remorse. I conclude that a sentence of 240 months is right," Judge Alison J. Nathan said on Tuesday.
Initially Judge Nathan used 2003 sentencing guidelines and recommended a sentence of 188 to 235 months, which is approximately 15 to 19 years.
"When Ghislaine Maxwell entered the court room today, she was no longer dressed in her civilian clothes she was now dressed in prison-issue garb. The audible 'clank' of ankle chains on her feet limited her range of motion and could be heard as she walked in and out of the court," Criminology Professor Thomas Volscho said on Tuesday.
Judge Nathan later changed her mind after Maxwell refused to show remorse and sentenced the British-Israeli-American-French socialite to 20 years of prison incarceration.
"We were all required to wear an N-95 mask, so most of her face was covered with an N-95 mask but she frequently took it off to take sips of coffee," Roberta Glass said. "For the most part, she sat very stoic, sometimes with her hand to her heart."
Jeffrey Pagliuca and Laura Menninger were not in attendance at the courthouse on Tuesday. Maxwell's team also asserted that she in fact, bankrupt, but the court did not end up believing the convicted child sex trafficker.
"Maxwell's finances are a moving target," the court said.
Maxwell claimed $3.8 million in her initial bail application and $20 million on her second bail application.
"Today was a towering day for justice. As we saw, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crimes she committed against these survivors and so many others. Today showed us that individuals can be held accountable irrespective of power and privilege, and today showed us that the chorus of the voices of these survivors prevailed," victim Sigrid McCawley said.
A Hampton Bays couple opined that the sentence was too light.
"Probably not enough years," Hampton Bays resident John told PublicIntelPress on Tuesday.
As part of her punishment, Maxwell also has to pay a fine of $750,000.
"After what she's done, it's not enough." Hampton Bays resident Debbie said.
Maxwell must also register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
"Ghislaine Maxwell's omerta got her 20 years, and the compromised pedophiles skated. The odious coterie in our government that covered up Epstein and Maxwell for 25 years is breathing easy. But we still live in a democracy, right? So, this isn't over until Americans say it's over," The Franklin Scandal author Nick Bryant said on Tuesday.
In addition to the dismissal of the perjury counts, the SDNY also combined multiple conspiracy counts, citing redundancy as a factor in their decision.
"I wish there was as much outrage over Ghislaine Maxwell's client list as there was over Joe Rogan's guests," political commentator Fuad Alakbarov said.
Maxwell was initially found guilty on conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity but two of those counts were dropped pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.
"I don’t want to live in a society that demands every detail of the Amber Heard Johnny Depp case but is somehow content without a single name from the Ghislaine Maxwell client list," YouTuber Blaire White said.
Maxwell's defense team requested that she serve her time at Danbury Federal Correctional Institution (FCI Danbury) in Connecticut, a low-security federal prison that has a prison camp for minimum security female prisoners.
"We request the BOP facility in Danbury, Connecticut. And the FIT program," Defense Attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell Bobbi Sterheim said.
FCI Danbury is located in Fairfield County in the Northeast Region of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). It houses a total of 1,024 inmates, including 827 inamtes at the FCI, 95 inmates at the Camp, and 102 female inmates at Federal Satellite Low Danbury (FSL).
"As Americans, we can demand justice for Epstein's victims, which means indicting ALL the perps. Or we can concede that we're not categorically against child trafficking and become spiritually bankrupt. We cannot abrogate our responsibilities, because of our corrupt government," Nick Bryant said.
FSL is a low-security federal prison that houses female inmates. Notable past FCI Danbury inmates include musician Lauryn Hill, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lowell, Mafia boss Michael Mancuso, and drug trafficker, George Jung.
Ghislaine Maxwell only got 20 years in prison for sex trafficking. Think about how disgusting that is. The moral rot it takes to engage in sex trafficking is not something you can rehabilitate. Our system is broken and must be rebuilt entirely," Tennessee Fifth Congressional District (TN05) Candidate Robby Starbuck said on Tuesday.
Also housed at FCI Danbury was Piper Kerman, the woman who was the inspiration for the Netflix television show, Orange Is The New Black.
"Ghislaine Maxwell finally gets sentenced today... months later after her conviction... They would sentence you or I for jaywalking exponentially faster than this," The Washington Times columnist and author Tim Young said on Tuesday.
Reality TV star, Teresa Giudice, is another well-known individual who was incarcerated at FCI Danbury.
"Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years and not one name from the highly anticipated clients list, disgraceful justice protecting child abusers," La French ConAction investigative reporter Fred said on Tuesday.
Seagram's Liquor heiress and Nexium cult sex trafficker, Clare Bronfman, is currently serving her sentence at Danbury as well.
"Ghislaine Maxwell getting 20 years is crumbs so people forget that she sex-trafficked young girls to a plethora of powerful men who remain unnamed & have not & will likely NEVER be held accountable," RT geopolitical analyst Fiorella Isabela said.
Maxwell will receive credit for the time she has served in custody thus far, which amounts to two years in the custody of the United States since the first week of July 2020.
"Where's the bipartisan political pressure to publicly reveal the names of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's client list?" freelance reporter, Fifty Shades of Whey asked.
The convicted sex trafficker will apply to transfer to a prison located in the United Kingdom, but will have to first serve three years of her prison sentence in the United States, according to the Daily Mail.
"If you think Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-year prison sentence is going to solve America's child trafficking problem, you have been duped. Intelligence agencies were/are involved, and they are never ever held accountable for anything," investigative journalist Whitney Webb said.
According to her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell and her legal defense team will appeal the conviction.
"Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Let’s now have the list of the perverts, paedophiles and dirty old men that she had as clients. I’m sure we’d recognise a few names… #ReleaseTheNames," social commentator Adam Brooks said.
According to NewsNation senior correspondent, Brian Entin, Prince Andrew's cousin believes that Ghislaine Maxwell has agreed to a "secret deal" and will end up in the United Kingdom's custody.
"Just got off Zoom with Prince Andrew’s cousin Christina Oxenberg. Talked about discussions she had with Ghislaine Maxwell. Talk of secret recordings involving other men. She believes Ghislaine has worked secret deal and will end up in UK," Entin said.
Brad Edwards, who is an attorney for multiple victims of the Epstein/Maxwell sex trafficking network, stated he thinks more names of Johns on the #EpsteinClientList will be revealed this year.
"The names you're going to find are five to ten names and I think really in the next year everybody's going to know everything," victim attorney Brad Edwards said.
Lawyers for the victims have called for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to continue their investigation into the Epstein/Maxwell sex trafficking ring.
“Obviously, Andrew is one of the targets they will be looking into. He should definitely be concerned, but.. if he did nothing wrong, then come forward and tell the full story to the FBI, not the media,” attorney Spencer Kuvin said outside the Thurgood Marshall courthouse.
American investigators have applied for a "Mutual Legal Assistance" (MLA) request to the UK Home Office, thereby bypassing Buckingham Palace.
“We call upon the FBI to fully investigate Prince Andrew. Virginia Giuffre’s civil case should be just the beginning. Everyone associated with Epstein and Maxwell should be carefully investigated,” added Los Angeles lawyer Lisa Bloom.
If an MLA is approved, the FBI could ask that Prince Andrew give evidence under oath as a witness to a British Royal court.
"I think you're going to start finding out towards the end of the year. If not by the feds, by civil lawsuits being finally outside of the statute of limitations, able to be filed. So, that's the first time you're going to hear probably October, November of this year and the names are going to start trickling out. Some of those names, we've had the Black Book for a while, so some of those names we do know."
Numerous well-known Twitter pundits opined on Maxwell's sentencing since it was announced.
"Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for trafficking children to no one," Sal the Agorist sarcastically wrote.
The government prosecution dismissed counts 7 and 8, the perjury charges that Maxwell accrued due to lying under oath in a 2016 deposition.
"Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of child sex trafficking 6 months ago. She was trafficking the children to Clients. Why have none of the CLIENTS been arrested or charged?" former business executive Daniel Hill asked on Tuesday.
Similar to their opening arguments, Sternheim again reasserted that Maxwell was the scapegoat for Epstein's crimes.
“Clever and cunning to the end, Jeffery Epstein left Ghislaine Maxwell holding the whole bag," Sternheim said.
"Until the someone is charged, or Ghislaine Maxwell's client list released, we can come to one assumption — every single one of these people who refuses to release it — is in on it," The Free Thought Project co-founder Matt Agorist said.
In addition to a fine of $750,000, Maxwell must also pay an assessment fee of $300.
"R. Kelly was just sentenced to 30 years in Prison for subjecting fans and children to sexual abuse— Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell ran an international trafficking ring involving some of the most influential and powerful people in the world and she gets 20 years in Prison," independent journalist Tayler Hansen said.
The leading Republican candidate in the Arizona gubernatorial race, Kari Lake, tweeted about the result.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Now let's see the names in that little black book of hers and throw them in the cage with her, shall we?" Trump endorsee Kari Lake said on Tuesday.
Not only have internet denizens compared the historic trial to R Kelly's, but they have also lined it up against the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation trial.
"R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex crimes the day after Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to just 20 years. What's up with habitual child predators getting shorter sentences than some weed dealers? Absurd," StockTalkWeekly wrote.
NewsWeek has already published an article about the disparity in punishment between Maxwell's 20 years and R Kelly's 30, after the disgraced musician's sentencing on Wednesday.
"Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein ran a prolific human trafficking ring for decades. They provided powerful pedophiles with victims and abused many young women together. Today Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison, none of her clients have been charged," MintPress News said on Tuesday.
In addition to the conspiracy convictions, the Mossad Princess was also convicted of four counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and six counts of sex trafficking of an individual under the age of eighteen.
"Aaaaand another "told ya so" moment as Ghislaine Maxwell- who committed thousands of felonies- is given a paltry 20 years in prison- for which she will likely serve less than half and be quietly released if she isn't Epstein'd," independent journalist and researcher Styxhexenhammer666 said on Tuesday.
As of this writing, no clients of Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell's international pimp-controlled child sex trafficking ring have been charged.
Can we now start seeing charges against the high profile people that used her "services" for their own perverted needs?" Toronto Sun contributor Brian Lilley asked.
Attorney for Virginia Roberts in the Epstein saga, Brad Edwards, made a statement on Wednesday.
"The names you're going to find are five to ten names and I think really in the next year everybody's going to know everything," victim attorney Brad Edwards said.
Mona Juul, the Ambassador of Norway, and her husband, Terje Roed-Larsen, accepted a $130,000 personal loan from Jeff Epstein. Lee asked Norway about this but has yet to receive a response.
"Jeffrey Epstein paid $150,000 to take the UN community to see a play on Broadway about the work of Mona Juul and Terje Roed Larsen and they've never explained it and they've never apologized," Lee wrote in a Tweet on Tuesday.
Matthew Russell Lee of InnerCityPress pointed out that United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, had a representative on the five-person board of Terramar, Ghislaine Maxwell's non-profit organization.
"#GhislaineMaxwell gets 20 years but to whom did she traffic?" SDNY court reporter Matthew Russell Lee of InnerCityPress asked. "I just want to emphasize that one of the victims, Elizabeth Stein, she said that once was she was lured into that world she was trafficked to Jeffrey and Ghislaine's friends for three years, but when the sentence was handed down, it was basically said that Ghislaine trafficked women to Jeffrey, but there was more than Jeffrey. Well, I'll let you figure it out."
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Addy is a writer for The Rundown Live, an independent journalist, author, and best-selling ghostwriter, and he publishes his own investigative reports, articles, and interviews on Substack. Follow Addy on Twitter and GETTR. Email tips to addyadds@pm.me. Addy’s books are available on paperback and e-book.