The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeal filed by Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of helping the late financier traffic underage girls. Maxwell, who was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein’s abuse, filed the appeal in April. She has completed five years of her 20-year sentence thus far.
The high court rejected Maxwell’s claim that she should have been protected from prosecution due to a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and Florida federal prosecutors. Despite that argument, prosecutors in New York later brought separate charges against her, concluding that the Florida plea deal did not apply outside that jurisdiction and did not restrict federal prosecutors in New York from pursuing their own case.
Maxwell’s legal team maintains that courts across the country have interpreted the scope of federal non-prosecution agreements inconsistently, leaving uncertainty over whether such deals should be considered binding nationwide.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, said in a statement following the decision: “We are, of course, extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court chose not to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal. However, this matter is far from over. There are still significant legal and factual questions that must be addressed, and we will continue to pursue every option to see that justice is ultimately served.”
In July, Maxwell and her attorney met for two days with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. During that meeting, Maxwell reportedly told the department she never witnessed any inappropriate behavior involving Donald Trump and was unaware of any allegations of misconduct connected to his friendship with Epstein. In August, Maxwell was quietly transferred to a minimum-security federal facility in Texas, though officials provided no explanation for the move.
In a filing submitted to the Supreme Court over the summer, the Justice Department argued that Maxwell “was not a party to the relevant agreement,” emphasizing that “only Epstein and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida were bound by it.”
Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in 2008 and served time in a Florida jail. More than a decade later, he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 but died by suicide in federal custody a month later while awaiting trial.
Calls for greater transparency around the Epstein case have continued to grow, particularly among some Republican lawmakers and allies of Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied writing the note or having any improper involvement with Epstein.
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