NEW YORK
\nUS prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to at least 30 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls.
\nMaxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking minors for the late disgraced financier and is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday.
\nHer lawyers have argued for leniency, citing a traumatic childhood and claiming that Maxwell is being unfairly punished because Epstein escaped trial.
\nThey called for Judge Alison Nathan to hand down a sentence less than the probation department\u2019s recommended 20 years.
\nBut in a court filing late Wednesday, the government argued that Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years.
\nShe has shown an \u201cutter lack of remorse\u201d for her crimes, wrote Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.
\n\u201cInstead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cMaxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls.
\n\u201cShe made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims,\u201d Williams added.
\nMaxwell, the Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, has already been held in detention for some two years following her arrest in New Hampshire in the summer of 2020.
\nDuring her high-profile trial, prosecutors successfully argued that Maxwell was \u201cthe key\u201d to Epstein\u2019s scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them.
\nShe was found guilty on five of six sexual abuse counts and her sentence could amount to an effective life term behind bars.
\nIt will cap a dramatic fall for the former international jetsetter who grew up in wealth and privilege as a friend to royalty.
\nHer circle included Britain\u2019s Prince Andrew, former US president and real estate baron Donald Trump and the Clinton family.
\nEpstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial in New York.
\nIn February, Prince Andrew settled a sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre, who said she had been trafficked to the royal by Epstein and Maxwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK US prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to at least 30 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls. Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking minors for the late disgraced financier and is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday. Her lawyers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8900,2268,8901],"class_list":{"0":"post-267776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-ghislaine-maxwell","9":"tag-jail","10":"tag-prosecutors"},"yoast_head":"\n