5 months ago
13
(NewsNation) — Ghislaine Maxwell is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her enactment trafficking conviction, which landed her a 20-year situation sentence.
The British socialite was convicted backmost successful December 2021 for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually exploit and maltreatment underage girls.
Maxwell's attorneys filed a 159-page petition to the nation's highest tribunal Thursday. In it, they reason that the government's non-prosecution statement with Epstein besides applies to her.
"Despite the beingness of a non-prosecution statement promising successful plain connection that the United States would not prosecute immoderate co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, the United States successful information prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell arsenic a co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein," Maxwell's attorneys wrote.
The statement successful question refers to a 2007 plea woody Epstein made with national prosecutors successful Florida. As portion of the arrangement, prosecutors agreed not to prosecute immoderate of Epstein's co-conspirators.
A national appeals tribunal successful New York heard a akin argument from Maxwell's attorneys past twelvemonth but upheld her conviction.
The appeals tribunal ruled that the 2007 woody applied lone to the U.S. Attorney’s Office successful the Southern District of Florida and didn’t use to prosecutors successful New York, wherever Maxwell was tried.
Now, Maxwell's attorneys privation the U.S. Supreme Court to measurement in.
"The default regularisation should beryllium that a committedness made connected behalf of the United States binds the entire
United States unless it says truthful affirmatively," defence lawyer David Markus wrote.
Markus added: "A suspect should beryllium capable to trust connected a committedness that the United States volition not prosecute again, without being taxable to a gotcha successful immoderate different jurisdiction that chooses to construe that plain connection committedness successful immoderate different way."
Maxwell was recovered blameworthy of luring young girls to Epstein truthful helium could molest them. She is currently behind bars at a low-security national situation successful Tallahassee, Florida.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 portion awaiting trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
