Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Judge Engelmayer Denies Ghislaine Maxwell's Attempt To Overturn Her Conviction (Part 1) (9/27/26)

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Judge Engelmayer Denies Ghislaine Maxwell's Attempt To Overturn Her Conviction (Part 1) (9/27/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to dive into
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  Speaker 1: the recent order from Judge Engelmeyer denying Ghislaine Maxwell and
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  Speaker 1: her attempt to have her conviction overturned. And when this
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  Speaker 1: order was filed, we were deep into the depositions. So
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  Speaker 1: now that we're done with all the depositions that have transcripts,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to dive into this order and we're going
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  Speaker 1: to get this bad boy added to the catalog. That said,
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  Speaker 1: let's get crackin'. Case number 120-CR-00330-PAE. Ghislaine Maxwell, Petitioner, United
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  Speaker 1: States of America, The Respondent. Paul A. Engelmeyer, District Judge.
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  Speaker 1: This decision resolves a post-conviction challenge by defendant Ghislaine Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: to her five felony convictions, all arising from her participation
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  Speaker 1: with the notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. in the sexual abuse
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  Speaker 1: of young girls over the course of a decade. On
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  Speaker 1: December 29th, 2021, the jury convicted Maxwell of those offenses,
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  Speaker 1: based on trial evidence of her guilt that was overwhelming.
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  Speaker 1: It included the testimony of multiple victims recounting abuse by
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and Maxwell, plus extensive corroborated evidence, documentary, and testimonial.
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  Speaker 1: On June 28th, 2022, the Honorable Allison J. Nathan, who
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  Speaker 1: presided over the trial, sentenced Maxwell principally to a term
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  Speaker 1: of 20 years imprisonment. The Second Circuit then affirmed Maxwell's
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  Speaker 1: conviction and sentence, and the Supreme Court denied her petition. Maxwell,
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  Speaker 1: heretofore represented by able counsel, now moves pro se to
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  Speaker 1: vacate her conviction and sentence under U.S. Code 28, Section 2255.
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  Speaker 1: In a lengthy and rambling petition, which Maxwell twice supplemented
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  Speaker 1: with similarly discursive addenda, She claims that her constitutional rights
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  Speaker 1: at trial and sentencing were violated in multiple respects. And
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  Speaker 1: she claims documents the Department of Justice publicly released earlier
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  Speaker 1: this year, pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, support
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  Speaker 1: her claims of error. Maxwell's claims are all meritless, and all,
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  Speaker 1: or almost all, are frivolous. The vast majority are procedurally barred,
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  Speaker 1: either because Maxwell made and lost the same arguments on
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  Speaker 1: direct appeal, or because she could have made the arguments
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  Speaker 1: on appeal but elected not to do so. And the
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  Speaker 1: purported new evidence to which Maxwell points, principally materials released
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  Speaker 1: under the EFTA, is largely irrelevant to the charges against
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell and does not support her claim of error. On
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  Speaker 1: the contrary, to the extent it's relevant, far from exculpitating her,
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  Speaker 1: it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal
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  Speaker 1: rulings Maxwell challenges. The court, accordingly, denies Maxwell's petition. 1. Background. A. Indictments.
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  Speaker 1: On July 2, 2019, a grand jury returned an indictment
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  Speaker 1: charging Epstein with participating in a sex trafficking conspiracy in
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  Speaker 1: violation of U.S. Code 18, Section 1591A and B. On
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  Speaker 1: July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested. On August 10, 2019,
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  Speaker 1: Epstein committed suicide while in pretrial custody at the Metro
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  Speaker 1: Correctional Center. On June 29, 2020, a grand jury returned
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  Speaker 1: the initial indictment in this case. It charged Maxwell in
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  Speaker 1: six counts. These allege that she facilitated and participated in
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's sexual abuse of multiple minor girls. It charged Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: with conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in
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  Speaker 1: illegal sex acts in violation of U.S. Code Section 371.
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  Speaker 1: Enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts
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  Speaker 1: in violation of 18 U.S. Code Section 2422 and 2.
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  Speaker 1: Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal
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  Speaker 1: sexual activity in violation of U.S. Code 18, Section 1623.
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  Speaker 1: These charges were based on Maxwell's conduct with respect to
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  Speaker 1: three minor victims who were identified by pseudonyms. On July 8, 2020,
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  Speaker 1: the grand jury returned a superseding indictment making ministerial connections.
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  Speaker 1: On March 29, 2021, a grand jury returned a second
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  Speaker 1: superseding indictment the one operative at trial. It added two
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  Speaker 1: counts based on a fourth minor victim also identified by
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  Speaker 1: a pseudonym. One charged the sex trafficking conspiracy in violation
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  Speaker 1: of U.S. Code 18, Section 371. The other charged sex
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  Speaker 1: trafficking of a minor in violation of U.S. Code 18,
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  Speaker 1: Section 1591A. B. and 2 and 2. The S2 indictment broadened
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  Speaker 1: the time period of the sexual abuse crimes originally alleged
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  Speaker 1: to span 1994 to 97, to span 94 to 2004.
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  Speaker 1: Can somebody go back and refresh my memory about how
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  Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton tried to talk about how nobody knew what
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  Speaker 1: was going on? Nobody had any idea, yeah? Well, turns
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  Speaker 1: out she's a liar. B, trial. The jury trial began
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  Speaker 1: on November 29th, 2021, and covered the six non-perjury counts
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  Speaker 1: charged in the S2 indictment. On December 29, 2021, the
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  Speaker 1: jury convicted Maxwell of five of the six counts, acquitting
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  Speaker 1: her only on the substantive enticement count. The government's evidence
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  Speaker 1: established that Maxwell had been instrumental in an approximately decade-long
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  Speaker 1: scheme with Epstein to entice, groom, transport, and traffic numerous
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  Speaker 1: young women and underage girls to engage in sexual activity
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  Speaker 1: with Epstein. The trial focused on six girls who suffered
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  Speaker 1: sexual abuse as a result of of Maxwell's criminal actions, Jane, Kate, Annie, Carolyn, Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: and Melissa. The first four testified at trial. The government's
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  Speaker 1: evidence also included testimony from law enforcement officers, testimony from
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell and Epstein former employees, corroborative documentary evidence, including videos
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  Speaker 1: and photographs of Epstein's residences and items recovered from searches thereof,
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  Speaker 1: physical evidence, including one of Maxwell and Epstein's black book contacts,
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  Speaker 1: and a green massage table, and other corroborating records such
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  Speaker 1: as FedEx records and flight logs of Epstein's private jets.
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  Speaker 1: The evidence showed the following. Beginning in approximately 1991, Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: had a close and sexually intimate relationship with Epstein. Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: was Epstein's girlfriend until early 2000s, after which they remained
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  Speaker 1: close friends. Maxwell traveled with Epstein on his private planes
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  Speaker 1: and vacationed with him at his various properties including a
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  Speaker 1: mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a Palm
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  Speaker 1: Beach villa, a New Mexico ranch, a Paris apartment, and
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  Speaker 1: a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Maxwell also
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  Speaker 1: received from Epstein a New York City townhouse that Epstein
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  Speaker 1: bought for her, and more than $ 23 million in assets.
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell imposed a culture of silence among the staff in
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's homes, whom she supervised as Lady of the House.
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  Speaker 1: She imposed strict rules for staff including a set forth
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  Speaker 1: in a household manual for the Palm Beach Villa's operations.
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  Speaker 1: Juan Alessi, the former manager of that residence, was directed
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  Speaker 1: by Maxwell to speak to Epstein only when spoken to,
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  Speaker 1: and not to look him in the eyes. Maxwell directed
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  Speaker 1: staff to see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. Maxwell's rules
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  Speaker 1: facilitated Epstein and her sexual abuse of young girls. Between
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  Speaker 1: 1994 and 2001, the early phase of the conspiracy, Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: and Epstein identified vulnerable girls to be groomed. The girls
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  Speaker 1: typically came from single mother households and were facing financial difficulty.
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell and Epstein used methods commonly employed by child predators.
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  Speaker 1: Government psychology expert testifying about deceptive tactics commonly used to groom, coerce,
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  Speaker 1: and sexually abuse minors. They isolated the girls from their
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  Speaker 1: families and friends, and Maxwell purported to befriend them by
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  Speaker 1: giving them gifts and and creating the illusion of responsible
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  Speaker 1: adult supervision. Maxwell and Epstein normalized sexual situations and sexual touching,
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  Speaker 1: and thereafter escalated to sexual abuse, often under the pretext
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  Speaker 1: of giving Epstein a massage. Maxwell personally participated in such acts, including,
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  Speaker 1: for example, instructing then-14-year-old Jane how to touch Epstein's penis
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  Speaker 1: during a massage, and touching Jane's breasts herself. Between 2001
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  Speaker 1: and 2004, Maxwell and Epstein developed a pipeline of girls
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  Speaker 1: who recruited one another to Epstein's Palm Beach residence. Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: and Epstein paid these girls hundreds of dollars in cash
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  Speaker 1: in exchange for being sexually abused by Epstein during massages.
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  Speaker 1: Once a girl had given these sexualized massages, Maxwell and
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  Speaker 1: Epstein offered her more money if she brought other girls
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  Speaker 1: to do the same. The defense called nine witnesses at trial.
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  Speaker 1: including former employees and associates of Maxwell, and an expert
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  Speaker 1: on memory. C. Post-trial motions. On January 19, 2022, Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: moved for a new trial under the Federal Rule of
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  Speaker 1: Criminal Procedure 33, based on a juror's provision of inaccurate
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  Speaker 1: information during the voir dire. On April 1, 2022, after
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  Speaker 1: an evidentiary hearing, Judge Nathan denied that motion. On February 11, 2022,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell made other post-trial motions under Rules 29 and 33.
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  Speaker 1: On April 29, 2022, Judge Nathan denied all but one
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  Speaker 1: of these motions. In the motion that she did grant,
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  Speaker 1: Judge Nathan found that the three conspiracy conspiracies multiplicitous and
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  Speaker 1: accordingly entered judgment only on one of them, sentencing. Sentencing
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  Speaker 1: was held on June 28th, 2022. The government sought a
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  Speaker 1: sentence of at least 360 months imprisonment. The defense sought
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  Speaker 1: a sentence below the guideline range 188 and 235. calculated
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  Speaker 1: by Judge Nathan. Eight victims submitted victim impact statements. Judge
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  Speaker 1: Nathan imposed a slightly above-guideline sentence of 240 months imprisonment. Maxwell,
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  Speaker 1: she stated, had directly and repeatedly over the course of
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  Speaker 1: many years participated in a horrific scheme to entice, transport,
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  Speaker 1: and traffic underage girls, some as young as 14, for
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  Speaker 1: sexual abuse by and with Jeffrey Epstein. For example, she
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  Speaker 1: noted after Carolyn had confided in Maxwell that she'd been
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  Speaker 1: raped and molested by her grandfather starting at a very
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  Speaker 1: young age, Maxwell used that knowledge to continue the cycle
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  Speaker 1: of sexual abuse, inducing Carolyn to give Epstein sexualized massages
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  Speaker 1: for years by touching Carolyn's breasts herself when Carolyn was
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  Speaker 1: age 14. Judge Nathan also noted that Maxwell had repeatedly
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  Speaker 1: deflected blame and lied about her conduct, including in a
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  Speaker 1: civil deposition and to pretrial services, and the court. E.
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  Speaker 1: Direct Appeal On February 28, 2023, Maxwell, through counsel, appealed
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  Speaker 1: her conviction and sentence, U.S. v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426. The
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  Speaker 1: second court affirmed. It upheld Judge Nathan's 1 ruling that
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  Speaker 1: a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and the U.S. Attorney's
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  Speaker 1: Office for the Southern District of Florida was did not
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  Speaker 1: bar Maxwell's prosecution in this district. Two, holding that the
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  Speaker 1: S2 indictment had been timely filed. Three, denial of Maxwell's
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  Speaker 1: Rule 33 motion based on juror misconduct. And four, response
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  Speaker 1: to a jury note, which Maxwell had argued resulted in
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  Speaker 1: a constructive amendment or a prejudicial variance from the S2 indictment.
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  Speaker 1: And five, sentence as procedurally reasonable. On April 10th, 2025,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell petitioned for a writ before the Supreme Court. Her
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  Speaker 1: petition argued that the 2007 Epstein MPA barred her prosecution
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  Speaker 1: in this district. On October 6, 2025, the Supreme Court
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  Speaker 1: denied that request. Alright folks, we're going to wrap up
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  Speaker 1: right here, and in the next episode, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: pick up with F, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and
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  Speaker 1: DOJ public release of materials under that act. All the
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  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
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  Speaker 1: the description box.