Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell bid to vacate sex-trafficking conviction

In a 67-page decision filed on Tuesday, the US district judge Paul Engelmayer for New York’s southern district denied the former British socialite’s petition for relief, finding that Maxwell had failed to make a substantial showing that her constitutional rights were denied when she was convicted for her role in crimes linked to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

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Maxwell, who is serving out her punishment at a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, had petitioned the court to vacate her conviction on grounds that there were issues at her trial, including a juror who later revealed he was a sexual abuse victim and evidence she alleged was not made available to her defense team.

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Her petition, which came before the massive Epstein-related document dump by the federal government, also raised the 2007 non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors in Miami and Epstein, which she claimed protected her from prosecution.

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The judge also rejected that new evidence had come through the Trump administration-led US justice department’s multimillion-page release of documents.

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Maxwell was not named in that agreement.

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The US Senate last month passed a resolution declaring its opposition to a presidential pardon for Maxwell.

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She made other claims of juror misconduct, inaccurate evidence and selective prosecution by the Justice Department, which she claimed targeted her as a scapegoat.

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She made other claims of juror misconduct, inaccurate evidence and selective prosecution by the Justice Department, which she claimed targeted her as a scapegoat.

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Engelmayer, a New York-based Obama appointee, called Maxwell’s claims “all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous.”

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Engelmayer rejected Maxwell’s request for an evidentiary hearing, saying that “there is no fact that Maxwell fairly puts in dispute that has any potential to disturb the outcome of her trial.”

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She renewed failed arguments that her rights were violated at her 2021 trial through juror misconduct, government collusion with victims’ lawyers, or other breaches, and challenged her 20-year sentence as excessive.

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She renewed failed arguments that her rights were violated at her 2021 trial through juror misconduct, government collusion with victims’ lawyers, or other breaches, and challenged her 20-year sentence as excessive.

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Her only avenue to freedom now would be a presidential pardon, for which she has lobbied.

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The habeas corpus action represented a last-ditch legal effort by Maxwell to secure her release after her appeals fell flat.

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Andriano fatally overdosed in 2023.

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The president has denied allegations he knew about or engaged in the perversion during their well-documented, years-long friendship.

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Maxwell filed a habeas petition last December seeking to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, claiming exonerating information was withheld and false testimony presented at her trial, resulting in a “complete miscarriage of justice.”

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Maxwell filed a habeas petition last December seeking to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, claiming exonerating information was withheld and false testimony presented at her trial, resulting in a “complete miscarriage of justice.”

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Habeas petitions are often filed as a last resort and to protect against unlawful confinement after appeals are exhausted, as happened after Maxwell’s conviction and sentencing.

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Epstein, a millionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges.

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Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested a year later and was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021.

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As a result of that law, the Justice Department over the last eight months has released 18 categories of investigative materials gathered in the massive sex trafficking probe, including search warrants, financial records, notes from interviews with victims and data from electronic devices.

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The judge also rejected Maxwell’s claim that she was selectively prosecuted and made a “scapegoat” when the Justice Department did not indict four co-conspirators named in a government document or 25 men who settled with victims.

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A request for comment was sent to lawyers who represented Maxwell in the past.

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The judge also rejected Maxwell’s claim that she was selectively prosecuted and made a “scapegoat” when the Justice Department did not indict four co-conspirators named in a government document or 25 men who settled with victims.

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Englemayer’s order outlined her crimes, noting that “the Government’s evidence established that Maxwell had been instrumental in an approximately decade-long scheme with Epstein to entice, groom, transport, and traffic numerous young women and underage girls to engage in sexual activity with Epstein. “

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She was sentenced in June 2022.

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The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her verdict in 2024 and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal in October 2025.

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A habeas corpus is not an appeal, but a request - in Maxwell’s case - from a prisoner to consider the lawfulness of a conviction.

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Among other things, the files revealed several interviews with other victims who told the FBI that they were not only recruited by Maxwell, but also sexually abused by her, along with Epstein.

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Then in November 2025, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which led to the release of approximately 3.5 million pages of Justice Department documents involving Epstein and Maxwell.

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One interview reviewed by the Miami Herald was from a victim who told the FBI in 1992, when she was 16 or 17, and visiting her grandfather in New York, she was approached by Maxwell in a park.

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She suddenly became groggy, and then lost consciousness, according to an FBI report written in 2020.

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When she awoke, she was in a bedroom and had vaginal bleeding and burning.

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Maxwell was walking her dog and offered her a dog-walking job.

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Within days, she called the girl and invited her to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, where Maxwell offered her an orange juice during what she believed was a job interview.

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Several other women who were not part of the DOJ’s criminal case also filed FBI complaints that mentioned Maxwell, the Herald has found.

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The FBI report noted that they found the woman to be truthful and that she was still traumatized by the event.

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