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Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday after being found guilty on five charges related to grooming and trafficking minors alongside her former boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, 60, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release following the end of her prison sentence and a $750,000 fine.
“Maxwell directly and repeatedly and over the course of many years participated in a horrific scheme to entice, transport and traffic underage girls, some as young as 14, for sexual abuse by and with Jeffrey Epstein,” U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan said while issuing the verdict.
“The damage done to these young girls was incalculable,” Nathan added.
Maxwell apologized to the victims in the court room, adding that she was “sorry for the pain you have experienced.”
“I also want to acknowledge I have been convicted with helping Jeffrey Epstein with his crimes. It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” Maxwell said.
Federal prosecutors suggested that Maxwell be sentenced of 30 to 55 years in prison, although her attorneys asked for only four to five years.
“Maxwell’s conduct was shockingly predatory,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
“She was a calculating, sophisticated, and dangerous criminal who preyed on vulnerable young girls and groomed them for sexual abuse,” prosecutors added.
Many took to social media after the verdict to decry that Maxwell was not given the full 55 years due to the extent of her crimes, and also shared concerns over the fact that the names of Maxwell’s and Epstein’s clients who also participated in the scheme have not yet been released.
Maxwell was put on suicide watch days before her sentencing for being at-risk due to her sex offender status. It is unclear yet if she will remain on a suicide watch following her sentencing. Epstein was found dead by suicide in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August 2019 while awaiting his own trial on sex trafficking charges.
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