Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-lover Ghislaine Maxwell gets 20 years in jail

• Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
• Jeffrey Epstein’s victims got some closure on Tuesday.
• Was her apology sincere?

On Tuesday, Ghislaine Maxwell, the British woman who was financier Jeffrey Epstein’s lover and accomplice. finally received her sentence. After he died in prison under suspicious circumstances, she has been found guilty of five charges, including sex trafficking minors who were recruited by the businessman.

Prosecutors had asked for between 30 and 55 years in jail for Maxwell but Judge Alison Nathan handed down a 20 year sentence. Although, it’s less than what the victims hoped for, Ghislaine Maxwell will still be behind bars until she’s a very old woman.

Was Ghislaine Maxwell’s apology sincere?

Ghislaine Maxwell said in court that the victims’ pain over the situation hurt her, however, she never apologized for her complicity and for being Jeffrey Epstein’s right-hand. She did say she regretted having met him and even claimed he manipulated her.

According to Maxwell, the financier should have been the one answering to the victims, not her. She said: «I’m sorry for the pain you have experienced,» pointing to the victims and saying that she hopes the time she spends in prison will alleviate some of their pain.

Does she regret it?

According to the EFE Agency, the judge noted before reading the sentence that Maxwell neither apologized for her actions nor did she show repentance when she addressed the victims. Several of them were present in the courtroom and vividly recalled the psychological trauma they still experience 20 years after being victims of Epstein and Maxwell.

«I have been coping with the daily all-consuming fear that someday Epstein and Maxwell would harm me… I frequently experience flashbacks and wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares reliving the awful experience. I am hyper vigilant, experience dramatic mood changes and avoid certain places, situations and people” said Sara Ransome in her victim impact statement.

Victims spoke out against Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice

In addition to Ransome, Annie Farmer and another woman identified as «Kate» also spoke. Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse after being trafficked by Epstein, told Maxwell in a message read by her attorney: “I want to make one thing clear. Jeffrey Epstein is a terrible pedophile, without a doubt; but he never would have known me if it hadn’t been for you.»

Before pronouncing the sentence, the judge, who imposed a fine of $750,000, also emphasized that Epstein was not being judged in this trial, as the defense has tried to justify, but Maxwell for her own crimes and for her role in the criminal activity.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense expressed his feelings

Maxwell’s lawyer, who presented letters from her brothers and sisters in favor of the accused, argued that Maxwell herself had been a victim of Epstein and that she regretted having met him. «It is the biggest mistake she has ever made in her life and it will never be repeated,» her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim wrote in a document sent to the judge before the hearing. She also described Maxwell’s childhood as «difficult and traumatic» due to the narcissistic, demanding and overprotective personality of her father, the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell.

The lawyers suggested throughout the trial that the case against their client was a response to the failure to prosecute Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019. Maxwell, 60, was convicted on December 29 for five of the six charges she was facing, including sex trafficking. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Maxwell chose «younger, pretty and vulnerable» girls with difficult family situations and seduced them with her «sophisticated» style and brought them to Epstein.