Federal judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwells bid to overturn sex trafficking conviction

A New York federal judge on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s latest attempt to overturn her 2022 conviction and 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, ruling that her claims of constitutional violations during her trial and sentencing were “all without merit, and all or nearly all frivolous.”

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a 67-page decision dismissing Maxwell’s *habeas corpus* petition, which argued that her rights were violated in the 2021 trial where she was found guilty of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein. The judge stated that the evidence of her guilt was “overwhelming” and that the newly released Epstein case documents cited by Maxwell were “largely irrelevant” to her charges. He added that some of the material “far from exculpating her, incriminates her or reaffirms the correctness of the legal rulings she challenges.”

Maxwell, 64, is serving her sentence at a low-security prison in Bryan, Texas. She was the only person convicted in the U.S. in connection with Epstein’s decades-long abuse of minors. Epstein, a financier with ties to elite political and business circles, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

The British socialite, who was once Epstein’s girlfriend and longtime associate, had previously sought to void her conviction through the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2025, but the justices declined to hear her appeal. Her legal team has also pursued a pardon from former President Donald Trump, who in 2025 said only that he would review all clemency requests, adding, “I wouldn’t say I’m considering it or not considering it. I don’t know anything about it.”

Maxwell’s 2021 jury trial centered on her role in Epstein’s abuse network, with prosecutors alleging she facilitated the exploitation of more than 1,000 minors and young women, some of whom were passed to prominent figures. She was first indicted in 2020 on charges including sex trafficking of minors, perjury, and conspiracy. Epstein had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida, receiving an 18-month sentence under a controversial plea deal.

In her latest filing, Maxwell repeated claims that procedural errors—such as an alleged juror bias and withheld evidence—invalidated her trial. Engelmayer countered that these arguments had either been raised and rejected in her direct appeal or could have been but were not. The judge also noted that Maxwell’s assertions relied on “speculation, distortion, and/or outright falsehoods,” according to court documents cited by *The Guardian* .