A federal appeals court upheld the sex crime convictions of Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell on Tuesday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found “no errors” in what it called a complex case, rejecting several arguments from Maxwell, including that Epstein’s unusual non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida barred prosecutors from the Southern District of New York from bringing the case against her.
The Florida agreement, which followed state and federal investigations into allegations of Epstein’s unlawful sexual activity, didn’t bind the New York office, the three-judge 2nd Circuit panel ruled, despite the fact that the 2007 agreement said that the United States agreed not to bring any criminal charges against any potential Epstein co-conspirators.
The panel cited precedent that says plea agreements only bind the U.S. Attorney’s office in the district where the plea is entered, unless it affirmatively appears that the agreement contemplates a broader restriction. There’s “nothing in the NPA that affirmatively shows that the NPA was intended to bind multiple districts,” the panel said, referring to the non-prosecution agreement, adding that nothing presented to the appellate judges indicated that the New York office was notified or had approved of the Florida agreement.
Maxwell coordinated, facilitated and contributed to Epstein’s sexual abuse of women and underage girls, the panel noted in recounting the history of the case. The panel explained:
Starting in 1994, Maxwell groomed numerous young women to engage in sexual activity with Epstein by building friendships with these young women, gradually normalizing discussions of sexual topics and sexual abuse. Until about 2004, this pattern of sexual abuse continued as Maxwell provided Epstein access to underage girls in various locations in the United States.
While awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in a death that was officially deemed a suicide.
Maxwell was charged in 2020 and found guilty in 2021 of conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and sex trafficking of a minor. Maxwell, now 62, was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison and fined $750,000. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists her expected release in 2037.
Also among Maxwell’s rejected arguments was that her trial was tainted because one of the jurors failed to accurately respond to questions related to their sexual abuse history on a jury questionnaire during jury selection. “Maxwell did not challenge the inclusion of other jurors who disclosed past experience with sexual abuse, assault, or harassment,” the appeals court noted. Maxwell’s lawyer Arthur Aidala said that they’re “obviously very disappointed by the court’s decision, and we vehemently disagree with the outcome,” and that they’re “cautiously optimistic that Ghislaine will get the justice she deserves from the Supreme Court of the United States.” The decision in her case was published the same day that Sean “Diddy” Combs was arraigned in New York on sex trafficking charges. If Combs (who has pleaded not guilty) is convicted, his appeal would go through the same federal appeals court that just ruled against Maxwell. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for updates and expert analysis on the top legal stories. The newsletter will return to its regular weekly schedule when the Supreme Court’s next term kicks off in October.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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