A federal judge in New York on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's attempt to overturn her sex trafficking conviction, finding her claims without merit.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a 67-page written ruling dismissing Maxwell's habeas petition, which sought to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence. Engelmayer wrote that Maxwell's assertions were based on "speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods."
Maxwell, the longtime associate and former girlfriend of financier Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted of five felony counts arising from her participation in the sexual abuse of young girls over more than a decade. She filed the petition last December in what observers characterized as a long-shot bid for release.
In his decision, Engelmayer characterized Maxwell's motion as "rambling" and stated that "Maxwell's claims are all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous." The judge found that her filing did not substantiate her contentions that she was wrongly convicted on charges of luring girls into Epstein's orbit.
Maxwell had argued that documents released in the Jeffrey Epstein files supported her claims of constitutional violations. The judge rejected this argument as well.
A federal appeals court previously upheld Maxwell's conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up her petition for review.
Maxwell is currently incarcerated at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
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