Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers urge a mild sentence

With less than two weeks remaining before Ghislaine Maxwell's sentencing date, her defense team said the court should not punish her in place of late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The British socialite has become the focal point of the sex abuse scandal surrounding Epstein after the investment banker was found dead in his cell in August 2019.

Late last year, Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking minors and several other charges. Her role included grooming underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. The US probation office has since recommended a 20-year sentence, while prosecutors have yet to issue their recommendation.

But her lawyers now say it would be "a travesty of justice" for her to face a punishment that would be appropriate for her former partner.  They say Maxwell she should face no more than five years and three months in prison.

"Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser, and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification," the defense team wrote on Tuesday.

Maxwell not a 'vapid socialite'

In justifying their plea, Maxwell's lawyers pointed to her childhood growing up as a daughter of wealthy media proprietor Robert Maxwell.

The defendant suffered "difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic, and demanding father," according to the motion. This made her "vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her father's death."

Robert Maxwell died in mysterious circumstances in November 1991 in the midst of major financial and other legal difficulties. He was found in the ocean off the Canary Islands, seemingly having fallen off his yacht, the "Lady Ghislaine."

Maxwell's defense team also said Ghislaine Maxwell was not a "villain, or a vapid socialite" and that the 60-year-old did not deserve calls from the public to be effectively "locked away from good."

Maxwell receiving threats, lawyers say

The sexual abuse scandal surrounding Epstein and Maxwell has sparked widespread speculation about their ties with the international jet set, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well UK's Prince Andrew. Many have also questioned the official narrative on Epstein's death, which officials have ruled to be a suicide.

In the Tuesday filing, Maxwell's lawyers seemed to hint that she was in danger while in jail. One of her inmates told at least three others that she had been offered money for killing Maxwell, and that she planned to suffocate the defendant in her sleep.

The decision on the length of Maxwell's sentence will be passed by presiding Judge Alison Nathan on June 28.

dj/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP)