Originally published 2022-06-29.
On 28 June 2022 a federal judge in New York sentenced Ghislaine Maxwell to 20 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom and sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell, then 60, had been convicted six months earlier on five of the six charges she faced, including sex trafficking of a minor. Her appeals have since failed: a federal appeals court upheld the conviction in 2024, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear her case in October 2025.
This article explains who Maxwell is, what she was convicted of, how the sentence was decided, what she said in court and what has happened since.
Who Ghislaine Maxwell is
Maxwell was born on 25 December 1961 in France, the youngest child of the British media owner Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991. She moved to New York in the early 1990s and became a fixture of high society, and for years she was Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend and later his close associate.
Epstein, a wealthy financier, had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to state prostitution charges involving a minor, under a deal that spared him federal prosecution. He was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died in a Manhattan jail cell the following month, a death the medical examiner ruled a suicide. With Epstein gone, attention turned to the people who had helped him.
The charges and the 2021 verdict
The FBI arrested Maxwell on 2 July 2020 at a property in Bradford, New Hampshire, where she had been living quietly. Her trial opened in Manhattan on 29 November 2021, and four women testified that she had recruited or groomed them as teenagers in the 1990s and early 2000s, often by befriending them and normalising sexual contact before introducing them to Epstein.
On 29 December 2021 the jury found her guilty on five counts:
- sex trafficking of a minor
- conspiracy to commit sex trafficking
- transporting a minor across state lines for illegal sexual activity
- conspiracy to transport minors for illegal sexual activity
- conspiracy to entice minors to travel for illegal sexual activity
She was acquitted on a sixth count of enticing a minor to travel. Readers can find our earlier report on the guilty verdict on this site.
How the 20-year sentence was decided
Federal sentencing guidelines gave the judge a wide range. Prosecutors asked for 30 to 55 years, arguing that Maxwell was an essential partner in years of abuse and had shown no real remorse. Her lawyers asked for a far shorter term, pointing to her lack of prior convictions and arguing that she was being punished for Epstein's crimes.
Judge Alison J. Nathan chose 20 years and also imposed a fine of $750,000. She said that Maxwell had played a direct role in the abuse and that the sentence had to reflect the harm done, while rejecting the idea that Maxwell was being made to stand in for Epstein. Several survivors spoke at the hearing or submitted statements about the lasting damage to their lives.
What Maxwell said in court
Maxwell addressed the court before sentence was passed. She did not admit to the abuse described at trial, and much of her statement focused on Epstein, whom she said should have faced justice years earlier. She said her link to him would "forever and permanently stain me," and told the survivors, "I empathize deeply with all of the victims in this case."
Many survivors and their lawyers saw the statement as an attempt to shift blame. Some accusers have said over the years that Maxwell took part in the abuse herself and warned them to stay silent; those accounts formed part of the wider picture, though the jury's verdict rests on the specific charges proved at trial.
Appeals, prison and later developments
In July 2022 Maxwell was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida. Her lawyers appealed, arguing among other things that Epstein's 2007 non-prosecution agreement, which promised not to charge his "potential co-conspirators," should have protected her. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument and upheld her conviction and sentence on 17 September 2024.
On 1 August 2025 she was moved to the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, shortly after she was interviewed by senior Justice Department officials. The transfer drew sharp criticism from survivors' advocates, and its reasons have not been officially explained; the White House described it as routine. On 6 October 2025 the Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal, leaving the conviction in place.
Powerful names, allegations and what the record shows
The Epstein case has always attracted speculation because he socialised with politicians, royals, academics and business leaders. Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are among those known to have spent time with him in past decades. Appearing in flight logs, photos or contact books is not evidence of a crime, and neither man has been charged with any offence connected to Epstein.
The most prominent civil case involved Prince Andrew. Virginia Giuffre sued him in New York in August 2021, alleging that she had been trafficked to him as a teenager. He denied the allegations and settled the case in February 2022 without admitting liability. In November 2025 he was stripped of his royal titles and is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He has not been charged with any crime relating to Giuffre's allegations.
For readers following the story, the clearest guide is the court record: what was proved to a jury, what was settled in civil courts, and what remains an allegation. Maxwell stands as the only person convicted alongside Epstein of trafficking girls for his abuse.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, support is available; in the United States, RAINN's hotline can be reached at 800-656-4673.
Sources: Wikipedia: Ghislaine Maxwell; Wikipedia: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; The Guardian: Ghislaine Maxwell sentencing (28 June 2022).
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