The U.S. Supreme Court is rejecting Jeffrein Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her 20-year prison sentence. The Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s petition on Monday without any explanation, which is not unusual in such situations.In December 2021, Maxwell was convicted in New York on five federal charges for her role in facilitating Epstein’s abuse of minor girls. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas from a low-security prison in Florida in July.Her appeal focused on a 2007 non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, who agreed to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and procurement of a minor for prostitution. The deal was made in the Southern District of Florida. During the trial, Maxwell’s defense team argued that she was immune from prosecution in New York because of the non-prosecution agreement. However, the trial judge ruled that federal prosecutors were not bound by the agreement, which was made in another district. After her conviction, her lawyers appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the “plea agreement [signed by Epstein] applies to preclude this prosecution” and that “denying that viability of this plea agreement strikes a dagger in the heart of the trust between the government and its citizens regarding plea agreements.”Federal prosecutors countered that the “central promise in the non-prosecution agreement is a promise by the Southern District of Florida not to prosecute Epstein in that district.” They said it was “entered into by the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida, intended to bind the Southern District of Florida and that district alone.”In September 2024, the court upheld her conviction and said her sentence was “procedurally reasonable.” The Supreme Court’s rejection of Maxwell’s petition comes as the government’s refusal to release the Epstein files has become a stubborn issue for the Trump administration, with Democrats and some Republicans in Congress trying to force a vote to release the documents.Congressman Thomas Massie suggested in a post on X that the House was out this week due to a fear that he would force a vote on a measure to release the Epstein files. A recent poll conducted by PBS News, NPR, and Marist found that roughly three-quarters of Americans say they want the files released.
