Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Prosecutors Demand Ghislaine Maxwell Serve 30-55 Years For 'Shockingly Predatory' Actions
In newly filed court documents, prosecutors refuted Ghislaine Maxwell's claims that she is being scapegoated, noting that the socialite "was an adult who made her own choices" when she engaged in the sex trafficking for which she was convicted.
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Ghislaine Maxwell to serve between 30 and 55 years for her crimes.
In the sentencing memorandum filed on June 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors detailed their demand that she be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and up to 55 years for her “instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls," NBC News reports.
A jury convicted Maxwell, 60, of five counts related to child sexual abuse and trafficking in December. Throughout the trial, prosecutors told jurors that the disgraced British socialite recruited and groomed teen girls as part of Jeffrey Epstein’s pyramid of sexual abuse. Epstein, 66, died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from allegations made by dozens of victims.
"Her practice of targeting vulnerable victims reflects her view that struggling young girls could be treated like disposable objects," prosecutors said in their sentencing recommendation. They noted that her behavior is both "monstrous" and "shockingly predatory,” Fox News reports.
Maxwell’s lawyers have asked for a much more lenient sentence for their client: A maximum of five years and three months. They have argued that she is being scapegoated for the late Epstein's actions.
But the federal prosecutors argue that Maxwell’s actions are reprehensible on their own.
“Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices,” they wrote. “She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls. She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims.”
They believe she deserves decades behind bars for her callousness.
"As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege," they wrote. "In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries. That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwell’s crimes."
In the memo, prosecutors also expressed their desire for Maxwell to be fined the maximum allowable fine of $750,000. They note that she recently told the court in bail applications that she had $22 million, despite recently claiming that she had nearly no assets left, according to NBC News.
Maxwell is expected to be sentenced on June 28.
