Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal against her 20-year jail sentence is in jeopardy, because her estranged husband has refused to pay her lawyers.
TW: This article contains details that some people may find upsetting.
This new comes after Maxwell was sentenced for helping disgraced s*x offender Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls.
Scroll on for all the details…
Now, Jeffrey Epstein, who made a name for himself with elite investment bank Bear Stearns, before founding his own investment firm, was first convicted for a range of crimes in 2005.
Then, in 2008, he was convicted of running an underage p*********** ring connected to a number of high-powered individuals. Epstein served just thirteen months for this conviction.
From there, it got worse…
On July 6th 2019, Epstein was arrested again for trafficking minors in the states of Florida and New York and was held awaiting trial in a New York prison.
This was a huge breakthrough for many of his victims.
Epstein had managed to get away with vile and criminal acts for the majority of his life, most likely a result of his money and social clout. For his victims, there was finally hope of justice being done.
And many believed his conviction could uncover other high profile and wealthy sex offenders.
Epstein had numerous friends in high places, many of which were known to travel to his elusive island, where the majority of his crimes took place.
One of them, controversially, being Prince Andrew from the British Royal Family.
Of course, all of Epstein’s high-profile friends have denied any involvement in this scandal, but people aren’t too convinced.
However, before Epstein could dish the dirt on his friends…
He was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell, apparently as a result of hanging.
It was ruled as suicide, though some people aren’t convinced by that.
But because of the nature of his crimes, plus the connections Epstein had to the political and social elite, some have other suspicions about what really happened.
Anyway, in the months following his death, the investigation fell silent.
Progress seemed to be sparse, but then, the release of Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich on Netflix catapulted the whole thing back into the spotlight.
Victims spoke out about what they had endured.
They each gave detailed similar, yet horrifying tales of being assaulted while giving Epstein and his friends “massages.”
It also outlined the involvement of Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and close friend…
Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the months following Epstein’s death, Maxwell remained firmly hidden and out of the public eye…
And, at that time, she wasn’t reprimanded or publicly questioned for her involvement in the scandal.
But, it was reported in July 2020 that Maxwell had finally been arrested by the FBI in New Hampshire.
She was taken to a hearing where she was described as a flight risk, so was therefore ordered to remain in custody while being transferred to New York for a detention hearing.
Maxwell was charged with the crimes of enticement of minors and trafficking of underage girls.
She also faced many other charges including repeatedly lying about her involvement in the trafficking ring during a 2016 deposition.
As you’d expect, Maxwell’s time in prison hasn’t been an easy one.
The former socialite’s lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, argued that Maxwell is facing tougher jail conditions than inmates convicted of murder or terrorism.
Sternheim said Maxwell is effectively being kept in solitary confinement and is “excessively and invasively” monitored twenty-four hours a day.
Along with video surveillance in her cell, cameras also follow her movements when she is allowed to leave it.
Last year, her lawyer spoke out about her jail condition in the hopes that it could gain her some sympathy.
Though it didn’t work as effectively as he’d hoped.
During a court hearing just 2 week prior, Sternheim renewed Maxwell’s request for bail ahead of her trial on November 29th 2021.
In the court documents, she described Maxwell’s jail as “inappropriate,” Yahoo reported.
“The surveillance rivals scenes of Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s incarceration despite the absence of the cage and plastic face guard,” she wrote.
The Guardian added that Sternheim also said that “Maxwell’s conditions of detention for the past 16 months continue to be reprehensible and utterly inappropriate for [a] woman on the cusp of turning 60 with no criminal record or history of violence,” when speaking of her time at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
“It is unwarranted, unrelenting, and utterly inappropriate,” Sternheim wrote.
“[She] has been subject to physical and emotional abuse by the correction officers, poor and unsanitary living conditions, insufficient nutrition, difficulties reviewing the millions of legal discovery documents in the case against her, and sleep deprivation.”
Maxwell also spoke out herself.
Maxwell reportedly told the Daily Mail: “I used to take a shower every day but I’ve stopped because of the creepy guards who stand close and stare at me the whole time. I used to go to the loo with an open sewer drain and a friendly rat would regularly visit.”
“I told the guards, but nothing was done until the rat popped out and charged a guard who screamed in terror.”
“Finally, the sewer drain was covered.”
And so, the opening arguments of Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial began.
And she appeared to be pretty relaxed about the situation.
Although she wore a mask throughout the proceedings, Maxwell could be seen laughing and chatting with her defense lawyers…
Which included Leah Saffian, Christian Everdale, and Bobbi Sternheim, who she talked to during the hearing.
At one point Ghislaine even waved to her sister Isabel Maxwell, who was sitting behind her, up in the public gallery.
Her actions have caused many to feel as though she’s remorseless for the crimes she’s been charged with.
From trial drawings, many people also noticed not just Maxwell’s actions but her appearance.
It was noted that Maxwell entered the court with freshly dyed hair while wearing a jumper, black trousers, and heels – an outfit that is a far cry from her orange prison attire.
The trial was well underway and many horrifying revelations were emerging.
From pictures of the inside of Epstein’s house to a booklet of rules that staff were made to follow.
Another shocking revelation was made, too.
And it involved photos that were shared during Maxwell’s trial…
The pictures, which were later posted on social media, showed Maxwell and Epstein enjoying an affluent life together…
Pictured jet setting, on vacation, and holding each other in a warm embrace, clearly not what Maxwell wanted the court to see.
Over a dozen photos of the pair together were revealed by the prosecution, set to show the deep connection the pair had together…
That ultimately led to the unthinkable. Prosecutor Alison Moe said: “These photographs show their close relationship throughout time. Given the change in hairstyles, the people in the photographs are clearly ageing.”
But then, a decision was finally made…
The court found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty on all but one count, meaning she could be 125 years old by the time she sees freedom again.
6 months after she was found guilty, and just weeks before being sentenced, Maxwell pleaded to be given a shorter sentence.
She claimed that other inmates were threatening to kill her.
Prosecutors said they think Maxwell should spend twenty years behind bars instead of the maximum fifty-five.
But on Wednesday, June 15, her lawyers argued for less time.
In a statement obtained by Insider, they claim that her life could be in danger if she stays in prison.
It reads: “One of the female inmates in Maxwell’s housing unit told at least three other inmates that she had been offered money to murder Maxwell and that she planned to strangle her in her sleep.”
Her lawyers also claimed that Maxwell suffered abuse as a child, revealing that her father, “a man of large physical stature with a booming voice,” would often “explode, threaten, and rant at the children until they were reduced to pulp.”
The statement continued: “Mr. Maxwell was relentless, with children ending up in tears, punishments being doled out, and the whole family in utter distress.”
They also tried to put all the blame on Epstein, writing: “Indeed, had Ghislaine Maxwell never had the profound misfortune of meeting Jeffrey Epstein over 30 years ago, she would not be here.”
Despite this, the sentencing has gone ahead.
Maxwell was put on suicide watch on the weekend, prior to being sentenced, although her lawyers have said she was not suicidal.
Her sentence hearing began Tuesday, June 28.
Before the judge sentenced Maxwell, some of those involved in the case read out victim impact statements to the court…
They labeled her “manipulative, cruel and merciless.”
Maxwell then addressed the victims, saying one final apology before being sentenced.
“To you, all the victims that came to today inside the court and outside… I am sorry for the pain you have experienced,” she said. “I hope my sentence… brings you closure… peace and finality. To help you put those experiences in a place that helps you move forward.”
Maxwell added that the victims’ accounts “tortures me every single day,” and hoped the sentence “brings this terrible chapter to an end and… help you travel from darkness into the light.”
She said: “It is hard for me to address the court after listening to the pain and anguish expressed in the statements made here. The terrible impact on the lives of so many women is difficult to hear and even more difficult to absorb, both in its scale and in its extent.”
Concluding her final statement, she said: “I want to acknowledge their suffering. I empathize deeply with all of the victims in this case.”
“I know my association with Epstein will follow and forever stain me. It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein.”
The judge then sentenced Maxwell to 20 years in prison, and to pay a fine of $750,000.
Maxwell then opened up in her first interview from prison.
She spoke out about the infamous Prince Andrew picture.
“At this time, I no longer believe that to be a true image, and I don’t believe that it is what it appears to be,” Maxwell told MailOnline.
“There are so many things that are wrong with it. As soon as my appeal is over, I will be very happy to discuss it with you.”
“I don’t know exactly how many points there are, but there are over 50 problems with the picture,” she said. “So I don’t believe it’s a true picture.”
She also called Prince Andrew a “dear friend.”
“He is paying such a price for the association with Jeffrey Epstein. I care about him, and I feel so bad for him,” Maxwell said.
And Prince Andrew wasn’t the only one Maxwell opened up about in her interview…
She also had some positive words to say about former president Donald Trump.
A little while after Maxwell was arrested in 2020, Trump shared his sympathies.
“I haven’t really been following it too much,” he said, as per The New York Times. “I just wish her well, frankly.”
It appears that he didn’t know too much about the scandal, despite it being the main focus of all media headlines at the time.
“But I wish her well, whatever it is,” he said.
Maxwell said about his comments: “I was very touched that he would remember me and that he would wish me well.”
Adding: “And I was very touched by his remembrance of me.”
Maxwell also mentioned her friendship with Bill Clinton…
“It was a special friendship, which continued over the years,” Maxwell said.
“We had lots in common. I feel bad that he is another victim, only because of his association with Jeffrey.
“I understand he, like others, can no longer consider me as a friend,” she said.
And now, it seems that her appeal is in jeopardy, as her estranged husband has refused to pay her lawyers.
Scott Borgerson, 46, who secretly married Maxwell, 60, in 2016, is now in control of her finances after she transferred up to £20million into a trust fund before her arrest in 2020.
But Borgerson ended his relationship with Maxwell whilst she was awaiting trial…
Now he has been accused of failing to pay a $900,000 legal bill to her defence team and provide the $1million required to challenge the conviction.
Until the cash is transferred, her legal team is unlikely to meet a January deadline…
…Forcing her to face the prospect she might die behind bars.
What do you think?