<p>Lawyers for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell said they asked the US Supreme Court to overturn her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction, arguing she was shielded from prosecution under a deal her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein reached with the government in a separate case.</p><p>In her petition, which was provided by her lawyer, Maxwell argued she was covered by terms of a 2007 non-prosecution agreement Epstein reached with a US attorney in Florida. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue criminal charges against Epstein or “any potential co-conspirators” in exchange for his guilty plea on state charges he solicited minors to engage in prostitution.</p><p>Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. During her jury trial in New York, witnesses testified Maxwell lured and groomed underage girls for abuse by Epstein — the disgraced financier who died in jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges — and sometimes participated in the assaults herself. </p> .Trump flew on charter jet previously owned by 'sex offender' Jeffrey Epstein.<p>A copy of Maxwell’s petition was provided by her lawyer, David Markus, who said it was submitted Thursday. The document wasn’t immediately visible on the Supreme Court’s website. The Supreme Court clerk’s office typically takes a few days to formally docket a new appeal.</p><p>Last year, a federal appeals court in Manhattan rejected Maxwell’s argument that she was covered by Epstein’s Florida deal. Marcus said the high court should review the case because federal appeals courts are divided on how non-prosecution agreements should apply to co-conspirators. At the time of Epstein’s case in Florida, Maxwell wasn’t charged, but she was considered a potential co-conspirator in the criminal probe. </p><p>“In light of the disparity in how the circuit courts interpret the enforceability” of non-prosecution agreements, “Maxwell’s motion to dismiss would have been granted if she had been charged in at least four other circuits,” Markus wrote in the petition.</p><p>Nick Biase, a spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment.</p> .<p>A 2020 Justice Department investigation concluded that then-US Attorney Alexander Acosta used “poor judgment” in approving a generous plea deal with Epstein, but didn’t commit “professional misconduct.”</p><p>In that Florida case, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls. He signed a non-prosecution agreement with Acosta’s office that avoided federal charges, while he pleaded guilty to state charges. He served 13 months in a work-release program.</p><p>Maxwell was arrested in 2020, a year after Epstein committed suicide while facing a separate sex-trafficking case by federal prosecutors in New York. She was convicted in 2021 on five charges for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.</p><p>The appeal was first reported by ABC News. </p>
<p>Lawyers for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell said they asked the US Supreme Court to overturn her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction, arguing she was shielded from prosecution under a deal her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein reached with the government in a separate case.</p><p>In her petition, which was provided by her lawyer, Maxwell argued she was covered by terms of a 2007 non-prosecution agreement Epstein reached with a US attorney in Florida. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue criminal charges against Epstein or “any potential co-conspirators” in exchange for his guilty plea on state charges he solicited minors to engage in prostitution.</p><p>Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. During her jury trial in New York, witnesses testified Maxwell lured and groomed underage girls for abuse by Epstein — the disgraced financier who died in jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges — and sometimes participated in the assaults herself. </p> .Trump flew on charter jet previously owned by 'sex offender' Jeffrey Epstein.<p>A copy of Maxwell’s petition was provided by her lawyer, David Markus, who said it was submitted Thursday. The document wasn’t immediately visible on the Supreme Court’s website. The Supreme Court clerk’s office typically takes a few days to formally docket a new appeal.</p><p>Last year, a federal appeals court in Manhattan rejected Maxwell’s argument that she was covered by Epstein’s Florida deal. Marcus said the high court should review the case because federal appeals courts are divided on how non-prosecution agreements should apply to co-conspirators. At the time of Epstein’s case in Florida, Maxwell wasn’t charged, but she was considered a potential co-conspirator in the criminal probe. </p><p>“In light of the disparity in how the circuit courts interpret the enforceability” of non-prosecution agreements, “Maxwell’s motion to dismiss would have been granted if she had been charged in at least four other circuits,” Markus wrote in the petition.</p><p>Nick Biase, a spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment.</p> .<p>A 2020 Justice Department investigation concluded that then-US Attorney Alexander Acosta used “poor judgment” in approving a generous plea deal with Epstein, but didn’t commit “professional misconduct.”</p><p>In that Florida case, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls. He signed a non-prosecution agreement with Acosta’s office that avoided federal charges, while he pleaded guilty to state charges. He served 13 months in a work-release program.</p><p>Maxwell was arrested in 2020, a year after Epstein committed suicide while facing a separate sex-trafficking case by federal prosecutors in New York. She was convicted in 2021 on five charges for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.</p><p>The appeal was first reported by ABC News. </p>