Attorneys argue Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction should be overturned citing unusual agreement in Jeffrey Epstein case

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers argue that she should never have been prosecuted due to a legal deal brokered by Jeffrey Epstein before his death, calling it “weird.”

Maxwell, 62, is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking offences in a New York appeals court.

Her defense attorney, Diana Fabi Samson, told the court about a 2007 plea agreement between Epstein and authorities in Florida that supposedly protected his co-conspirators from prosecution.

This appeal is the latest in a series of legal challenges from Maxwell’s team.

However, the US government’s lawyers argued that this plea agreement did not apply outside Florida and did not intend to protect others from prosecution.

The circuit judge seemed skeptical of Samson’s argument and will deliver a written ruling later.

Maxwell was convicted of grooming young girls for Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial.

She is currently serving her sentence in a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, despite being convicted in New York.

Samson argued in court that Maxwell should not have been prosecuted under the plea agreement.

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She described the 2007 deal as unusual, with prosecutors saying they had no interest in prosecuting anyone else for Epstein’s crimes.

The US government’s lawyers have maintained that Maxwell’s appeal lacks merit and that her sentence is fair.

They argue that her claims are unsubstantiated and should be dismissed.