A federal judge used the word "frivolous" five times while rejecting incarcerated child sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's pitch for getting out of prison, expressing particular scorn for her claims about "25 unindicted co-conspirators."
Over the span of 67 pages, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer hammered the convicted accomplice of "notorious pedophile" Jeffrey Epstein for bringing a "lengthy and rambling" habeas corpus petition, only mustering "meritless" claims — "all or almost all" of which "are frivolous."
The judge, a Barack Obama appointee, said the 64-year-old federal inmate did nothing to change the fact she is scheduled to be released from prison in 2037, in the absence of some form of clemency.
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"The vast majority [of the claims] are procedurally barred—either because Maxwell made and lost the same arguments on direct appeal, or because she could have made such arguments on appeal but elected not to do so," he said, alluding to the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of Maxwell's appeal of her convictions in October.
Although Maxwell never succeeded in arguing that the infamous non-prosecution agreement Epstein secured in 2007 to avoid federal charges for himself and potential co-conspirators in Florida immunized her from prosecution in New York, "unindicted co-conspirators" nonetheless factored into Maxwell's habeas petition.
Engelmayer noted that Maxwell unconvincingly attempted to use "largely irrelevant" DOJ disclosures under the Epstein Files Transparency Act to her advantage.
"Maxwell attempts to avoid this bar by claiming that 'new evidence' shows that 'there were 25 men' with whom victims' lawyers reached 'secret settlements' who 'could equally be considered [] co-conspirators' of Epstein's. Maxwell argues that she 'would have called them as witnesses [at trial] had she known' of their existence," the judge wrote.
"But Maxwell does not support this factual claim," he explained. "Her only basis for it is a transcript from a May 14, 2024 podcast, featuring a lawyer for various Epstein and Maxwell victims. On that podcast, the lawyer vaguely alleged that Epstein had sent victims to be abused by 'certain friends,' whom Epstein then 'blackmail[ed].' The lawyer opined: 'So let's just say that over the years there's 25 of those individuals.'"
"This uncorroborated, conjectural remark is a far cry from evidence that 25 unindicted co-conspirators exist, as Maxwell (without naming any of them) posits," the judge stated.
In short, Maxwell in no way showed how these purported co-conspirators "would have exculpated" her at trial or that the federal government somehow "deliberately delayed" her indictment to "inhibit" her from calling those potential witnesses "in her defense."
Having determined that Maxwell fell "very far from the mark," Engelmayer said there was "no fact that Maxwell fairly puts in dispute that has any potential to disturb the outcome of her trial."
The post Ghislaine Maxwell pointed finger at '25 unindicted' Epstein 'co-conspirators' to get out of prison, but a judge saw right through it first appeared on Law & Crime.