British socialite GhislaineMaxwell must spend at most 30 years prison time for her role of groomer in the plot that saw scores abused teenage girls over a period of 10 years by Jeffrey Epstein. This was according to prosecutors Wednesday.
According to federal sentencing guidelines, the prosecution recommended that she serve between 30 and 55 years imprisonment. These recommendations were made to the Manhattan federal judge, who will be preside at a sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Maxwell, 60 years old was convicted of sex trading and other offences in December after a one-month-long trial in which testimony came from four teenage victims.
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Defense lawyers said in a sentencing submission last week that she should spend no more than five years in prison and shouldn’t pay for Epstein’s crimes, since he was the mastermind and principal abuser and “orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification.”
Epstein was in prison waiting for a Manhattan federal case on sex-trafficking when he died in mysterious circumstances.
Maxwell’s lawyers claimed last week that her cellmate planned to “strangle her in her sleep” for money, and that she wasn’t safe in prison.
“One of the female inmates in Ms. Maxwell’s housing unit told at least three other inmates that she had been offered money to murder Ms. Maxwell and that she planned to strangle her in her sleep,” Maxwell’s lawyers claimed.
The prosecution dismissed it “sensational”After an investigation, you can claim. “The MDC’s investigation revealed that the inmate had not actually been paid to kill the defendant and had not actually threatened Maxwell,”According to the prosecutors. The government claimed that an inmate said nothing more than passingly. “I’d kill her if someone paid me a million dollars.”
After Maxwell’s antics, the prosecutors were able to get serious prison time. “instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls” between 1994 and 2004 at some of Epstein’s palatial residences. They called her crimes “monstrous.”
“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. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries,”The prosecution wrote.
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“That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwell’s crimes,”These were added.
Prosecutors also urged the judge to reject Maxwell’s pleas for leniency on the grounds that she has suffered in extraordinary ways in jail while awaiting trial and afterward. According to defense lawyers, Maxwell has been subjected to death threats as well as harsh prison conditions which have led her hair loss and weight.
Maxwell’s appearance at trial proved those claims were wrong, prosecutors said, adding: “The defendant is perfectly healthy, with a full head of hair.”
Maxwell, they said “has enjoyed remarkable privileges as a high-profile inmate that vastly exceed the benefits accorded to the average inmate. It is unsurprising that a woman who had led a life of incredible luxury should complain about her life as a prisoner, but that fact does not come close to meriting leniency at sentencing, much less the extraordinary degree of leniency the defendant seeks.”
Prosecutors also attacked claims by Maxwell’s lawyers that she suffered “a credible death threat”In jail, claiming that an investigation into the purported threat found that an inmate made a comment to another in passing on something like: “I’d kill her if someone paid me a million dollars.”They reported that someone overheard them making the comment and they moved the inmate from their housing unit.
They also cited what they described as Maxwell’s “complete failure to address her offense conduct and her utter lack of remorse. Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can.”
Maxwell’s efforts to cast aspersions on the motives of the government for prosecuting her and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epstein’s crimes are “absurd and offensive,”Prosecutors said.
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“Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. 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 said.
Prosecutors claimed that nearly $22.5 Million in Maxwell’s assets were hers because of a bail request that she never received.
“The defendant’s access to wealth enabled her to present herself as a supposedly respectable member of society, who rubbed shoulders with royalty, presidents, and celebrities. That same wealth dazzled the girls from struggling families who became the defendant and Epstein’s victims,”Prosecutors said.
In the sentencing submission, there were also quotes from letters from women who wrote testimony during the trial. These included Kate, an ex model from Great Britain. “the consequences of what Ghislaine Maxwell did have been far reaching for me.”
“I have struggled with, and eventually triumphed over, substance use disorder. I have suffered panic attacks and night terrors, with which I still struggle. I have suffered low self esteem, loss of career opportunities. I have battled greatly with feeling unable to trust my own instincts, in choosing romantic relationships,”She wrote.
This article was contributed by the Associated Press
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