Judge rejects Maxwell's bid to overturn sex trafficking conviction

A federal judge has dismissed Ghislaine Maxwell's habeas petition, rejecting her claims that her sex trafficking conviction was a "complete miscarriage of justice." In a written ruling on Tuesday, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said the petition was "demonstrably meritless" and based on "speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods."

Maxwell, the former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, had argued in her December petition that new evidence would have exonerated her at her 2021 trial. She alleged that prosecutors withheld information and presented false testimony, leading to what she called an unjust outcome.

Judge Engelmayer, however, found no merit in those assertions. "There is no fact that Maxwell fairly puts in dispute that has any potential to disturb the outcome of her trial," he wrote.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. She was convicted in December 2021 on sex trafficking charges. Her legal team was contacted for comment on the ruling.

Habeas petitions are typically filed after direct appeals are exhausted, serving as a final legal challenge to unlawful confinement. Maxwell's case stems from her association with Epstein, the financier who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was arrested a year later and later moved from a Florida prison to a facility in Texas.