NBC News - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s challenge to her criminal conviction for recruiting and grooming teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein.
The decision means that Maxwell’s conviction on three counts and her 20-year criminal sentence remain in place.
Maxwell’s lawyers argued in court papers that an agreement Epstein made with prosecutors in Florida, in which the then-U.S. attorney pledged not to prosecute him or potential co-conspirators, should apply to one of the three counts in her case, which was prosecuted in New York.
At issue in Maxwell’s appeal is whether the terms of a so-called nonprosecution agreement apply only in the district where it was negotiated or also bind federal prosecutors nationwide.
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to reject Maxwell’s appeal, with Solicitor General D. John Sauer noting in his brief that under internal policies, the U.S. attorney would have needed to obtain permission from superiors if the agreement were to apply outside his district. There is no evidence that occurred, he added.
Maxwell was convicted in 2022 of three counts relating to her role in assisting Epstein in recruiting and grooming his victims, some of whom were as young as 14 years old.
She would befriend the girls and then assist in transporting them to Epstein’s residences and was sometimes present when the abuse took place, prosecutors alleged.
The Epstein case and Maxwell’s involvement were thrust into the news again this year as the Justice Department and FBI said that, contrary to theories promoted by some who now work in President Donald Trump’s administration, there was no Epstein “client list” or evidence he was blackmailing famous men.
No comments:
Post a Comment