Ghislaine Maxwell has filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court seeking to overturn her conviction for sex trafficking minors, arguing that her prosecution was unlawful due to protections outlined in a prior plea agreement involving Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence handed down in 2022, submitted the filing just three days after meeting with a senior Justice Department official tasked with re-examining aspects of the Epstein case. The move comes as the Trump administration faces sustained bipartisan criticism for failing to release promised files related to Epstein’s network, and as speculation grows that Maxwell could possess sensitive information about powerful individuals allegedly linked to the late financier.
Maxwell’s legal challenge centers on the 2007 non-prosecution agreement that Epstein struck with federal prosecutors in Florida. That agreement shielded Epstein and “any potential co-conspirators” from future charges, language that her attorneys, Mona and David Oscar Markus, argue extends immunity to Maxwell even though she was not specifically named. They contend that the explicit phrase “not limited to” in the document protects all unnamed associates and that the promise of immunity from “the United States” applies nationwide, not just within Florida. The Justice Department has countered that the original deal applied only to the Southern District of Florida and did not bar prosecutors in New York from pursuing Maxwell, adding that she was not known to federal authorities as a participant in Epstein’s activities when the deal was signed. The petition highlights a growing split among federal appeals courts on whether such agreements have a nationwide effect. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear the case, while outside the courts, Maxwell’s appeal has drawn renewed political attention as her lawyers publicly stress her cooperation during recent interviews and suggest that a presidential pardon from Trump remains a possibility.