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In
a Thursday night filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Manhattan, federal prosecutors said none of Maxwell's
legal arguments about the fairness of her trial held merit.
"The government’s evidence at trial established that over the
course of a decade, Maxwell facilitated and participated in the
sexual abuse of multiple young girls," prosecutors said.
Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for Maxwell, was not immediately
available for comment outside business hours.
Maxwell, 61, is behind bars in Tallahassee, Florida, after a
Manhattan jury convicted her in December 2021 on five charges
for recruiting and grooming four girls for Epstein to abuse
between 1994 and 2004.
Epstein committed suicide at age 66 in August 2019 in a
Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting trial for sex
trafficking. Hundreds of women have said he abused them.
In her appeal, Maxwell, the daughter of late British media mogul
Robert Maxwell, accused prosecutors of making her a scapegoat
because Epstein was dead and "public outrage" demanded that
someone else absorb the blame.
Her lawyers also offered several arguments for dismissing the
case or granting a new trial.
These included that Maxwell was immune from prosecution,
prosecutors waited too long to charge her, and Epstein's 2007
non-prosecution agreement arising from alleged abuse at his Palm
Beach, Florida mansion also immunized her.
The lawyers also said one juror should have disclosed before
trial that he had been sexually abused as a child.
Maxwell's accusers have said she and Epstein at first made them
feel welcome in their orbit, before Epstein began demanding
sexualized massages.
Others who were friendly with Epstein have seen their
reputations tarred or ruined, among them Britain's Prince Andrew
and former JPMorgan Chase executive and Barclays chief executive
Jes Staley.
JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, which both had Epstein as a client,
are paying a combined $365 million to Epstein's accusers over
their work for him. The US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a
home, is also suing JPMorgan.
Maxwell is eligible for release in July 2037, with credit for
good behavior and the two years she spent in jail before being
imprisoned.
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