Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to set aside her 20-year prison sentence

Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s partner, has asked the federal court to vacate or modify her 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

Maxwell, a former British socialite, claims “substantial new evidence” has emerged from civil lawsuits, investigative reports and other documents showing she did not receive a fair trial, according to a court in New York.

The appeal follows several unsuccessful attempts by Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021, to reduce her prison sentence.

This comes as the justice department faces a Dec. 19 deadline to release files related to federal investigations into Epstein.

Maxwell filed the petition without an attorney on Wednesday.

The Southern District of New York, where Maxwell filed the request, declined to comment on the petition.

Maxwell was convicted for her role in luring underage girls to her ex-boyfriend, disgraced financier Epstein, to abuse them. Epstein died in prison in 2019.

In the new court filing, Maxwell argues that several new pieces of evidence mean “no reasonable juror could convict him.” In one example he cited, a juror allegedly hid a history of sexual abuse during the jury selection process that could have harmed his ability to be impartial during the trial.

Federal judges in New York and Florida recently cleared the way for grand jury materials related to investigations into Maxwell and Epstein to be made public so the justice department can meet the deadline it set in the Epstein Transparency Act that Congress passed last month.

Maxwell was moved from a prison in Florida to a new minimum-security facility in Texas in August after being interviewed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche about her ties to Epstein.

He appealed his case multiple times and lost. In October, the US Supreme Court announced that it would not hear Maxwell’s appeal.