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Ghislaine Maxwell's Legal Team Say She Had Similar Agreement To Bill Cosby And Should Be Released
The jailed socialite's legal team claimed that Ghislaine Maxwell is covered by a 2007 NPA agreement between federal prosecutors and Jeffrey Epstein, similar to the one that recently saw Bill Cosby's sentence overturned.
Accused sex trafficker Ghislane Maxwell’s legal team said late last week that her case is similar to that of Bill Cosby, as, like the recently released comedian, the socialite was covered by a 2007 non-prosecution agreement involving the now-deceased billionaire and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell stands accused of helping groom underage girls for Epstein, who authorities say died by suicide in a federal jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking allegations.
On Friday, her legal team claimed that Maxwell is covered by a 2007 NPA agreement between federal prosecutors and Epstein. The NPA does not name the jailed socialite specifically; however, prosecutors had agreed co-conspirators would not be charged, the filing said.
In 2015, the former “Cosby Show” star was arrested after a district attorney with unsealed evidence in the form of the TV star’s potentially incriminating testimony in a lawsuit brought by Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her at his home in 2004. More than 60 women came forward to say Cosby violated them before his sentence was handed down.
The district attorney brought charges against him mere days before the 12-year statute of limitations ran out — however, a judge ruled that the DA had a technical obligation to uphold a promise from his predecessor not to charge Cosby. A split Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled the sentence last week and Cosby was released.
The legal maneuver is the latest from Maxwell’s team, who have fought tooth and nail to have her released from the Brooklyn jail where she has been held since her arrest in New Hampshire in July 2020.
"The government is trying to renege on its agreement and prosecute Ms. Maxwell over 25 years later for the exact same offenses for which she was granted immunity in the NPA," the filing says, adding that she is in a "similar situation" to Cosby.
Prosecutors have previously said that the NPA from 2007 does not apply to the wealthy socialite, who is not a named party and did not sign the agreement, NBC News reported.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty in her case and consistently denied all of the allegations lobbed at her via her attorneys.
Maxwell’s criminal sex-trafficking trial is slated for November. For more on her case, watch "Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell," a three-part docuseries available now on Peacock. The series will also air on Oxygen on Tuesday, August 10 at 8/7c.
