Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell formally appealed to the Supreme Court Monday to toss out her 2021 federal sex trafficking conviction, arguing that their client is covered by a controversial 2007 plea agreement Epstein reached with South Florida prosecutors.
“Rather than grapple with the core principles of plea agreements, the government tries to distract by reciting a lurid and irrelevant account of Jeffrey Epstein’s misconduct,” Maxwell’s husband-and-wife legal team, David Oscar and Mona Markus, wrote in their petition.
“But this case is about what the government promised, not what Epstein did.”
The much-criticized deal allowed Epstein — who died in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges — to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution.
The agreement — under which Epstein was incarcerated for just 13 months, much of that time on work release — stipulated that the Miami US Attorney’s Office “not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein,” and named four individuals, none of whom were Maxwell.
The deal also immunized “any potential co-conspirators,” which the Markuses say covers their client.
“This promise is unqualified,” they wrote. “It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception.
“This should be the end of the discussion.”
Maxwell was sentenced in June 2022 to 20 years in prison after being convicted six months earlier of sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy.
Justice Department officials have contended that then-Miami US Attorney Alex Acosta lacked the power to commit other federal districts to the terms of the 2007 agreement.
Maxwell’s previous efforts to overturn her conviction fell flat with a trial judge and the New York-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected her legal team’s arguments.
“No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida and prosecute with the other in New York,” Maxwell’s attorneys said in a statement.
“President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal—and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it.”
Last week, Maxwell sat for two days of interviews about the Epstein case with Justice Department officials, led by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The Epstein case made worldwide headlines again after the DOJ and FBI issued a memo July 6 concluding that the 66-year-old killed himself in lockup and did not have a “client list” of powerful acquaintances who engaged in illicit sex with girls as young as 14 — contrary to widespread speculation.
Trump has brushed aside questions about whether he will grant Maxwell clemency in exchange for her testimony, saying Monday that no one has formally requested a pardon on the British-born socialite’s behalf.
Last week, a South Florida federal judge shot down an administration request to release grand jury testimony in the investigation that preceded the Epstein plea deal.
