In June 2022, Maxwell’s legal team submitted a 77-page sentencing memorandum to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan requesting a significant downward variance from both the Probation Department’s recommendation and the federal Sentencing Guidelines. While the probation office had proposed a 20-year sentence (240 months), Maxwell’s attorneys argued she should receive only 51 to 63 months in prison. They maintained that Maxwell should not be punished as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein, emphasizing he was the principal orchestrator of the crimes and that Maxwell had never before been charged with wrongdoing until her association with him resurfaced. Her defense also cited her difficult and traumatic childhood, abusive father, and the death threats she continues to face as aggravating circumstances warranting leniency.

Prosecutors forcefully opposed the request, urging the court instead to impose a prison term within the Guidelines range—between 30 to 55 years—based on Maxwell’s “pivotal role” in grooming and recruiting vulnerable young girls for Epstein. They highlighted her lack of remorse, failure to accept responsibility, and the profound and enduring harm caused to numerous victims. The prosecutors made clear that Maxwell’s privileged background offered no mitigation given the extreme gravity of her crimes.


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source:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-sentence