Ghislaine Maxwell petitions Supreme Court to overturn 2022 conviction

Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her 2022 conviction

The former socialite, who's serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls

appealed her case, arguing she was protected by his September 2007 non-prosecution agreement

between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Southern District of Florida. In 2007, Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution and solicitation of minors to engage in prostitution in exchange for 18 months behind bars in Florida

According to court documents, his NPA states the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein

An appeals court rejected her argument, ruling the NPA does not and cannot bind multiple districts

As Maxwell was prosecuted in New York, an Epstein's agreement was between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Southern District of Florida

So the appeals court rejected Maxwell's argument. She's now asking the high court to consider overturning her conviction

Maxwell wants the justices to decide if a non agreement for one district can be enforced in another A defendant should be able to rely on a promise that the United States will not prosecute again

without being subject to a gotcha in some other jurisdiction that chooses to interpret that plain

language promise in some other way. Maxwell's attorney, David Marcus, writes in the petition

Maxwell was arrested in 2020, one year after Jeffrey Epstein died in prison while awaiting

trial. Four women testified against her at trial, claiming when they were minors

they had been groomed by Maxwell and abused by Epstein. The victim said Maxwell convinced them

to give Epstein massages at his personal residences, as well as on his property in

the Virgin Islands, which led Epstein to sexually abusing them. The Supreme Court is expected to

roll on Maxwell's case before the summer break. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says Epstein

abused up to 250 underage girls in Florida, New York and the Virgin Islands. And several flight

logs related to the late financier's plane have been released. However, no one other than Maxwell

has been prosecuted for sex trafficking of minors in this case. For Straight Arrow News

I'm Lauren Keenan. For more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com