Federal Judge Slams Ghislaine Maxwell’s Petition, Denies Yet Another Attempt by Epstein’s Co-Conspirator To Overturn Her Conviction and 20-Year Prison Sentence

Another appeal, another defeat.

Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade.

Following a blockbuster one-month jury trial, Maxwell was found guilty on December 29, 2021, of ‘conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor’.

So, that’s the end of her, right? Wrong.

Ever since her conviction, Maxwell is devoted to a seemingly endless series of appeals, trying to overturn both conviction and sentencing.

First, she filed a direct appeal to the Second Circuit that was denied in November 2024.

Then, she had her Supreme Court petition denied in October 2025.

Now, she had a ‘Pro se habeas’ petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 going. But this week, a federal judge struck down yet another attempt by Maxwell to vacate her sex trafficking conviction and 20-year prison sentence.

BREAKING: A federal judge has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex trafficking conviction on “new evidence” grounds. https://t.co/JGHzJdFWDV

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 25, 2026

Politico reported:

“In a 67-page ruling made public Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer slammed Maxwell’s petition to vacate her conviction and sentence as ‘demonstrably meritless, and generally based on speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods’.

Maxwell argued that many documents released by the Department of Justice earlier this year under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress in November 2025, supported that her due process rights were violated. She made other claims of juror misconduct, inaccurate evidence and selective prosecution by the Justice Department, which she claimed targeted her as a scapegoat.

Engelmayer, a New York-based Obama appointee, called Maxwell’s claims ‘all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous’. ‘On the contrary, to the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings Maxwell challenges’, he said of her claims.”

BREAKING: A U.S. judge has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid ​to throw out her conviction ‌and 20-year prison sentence for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.https://t.co/3khEkhxgWT

📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/k1id1GYmxt

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 25, 2026

“Maxwell was transferred to a less restrictive, minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas in 2025, days after sitting down with now-Attorney General Todd Blanche for an interview as the Trump administration faced backlash over its handling of the Epstein files.”

Maxwell has exhausted all avenues of appeal, and could only regain her freedom by presidential executive clemency (pardon or commutation), which at this point is not a realistic outcome.

Read more:

Former Top Clinton Aide Doug Band Had an Embarrassing Day as He Was Grilled in Front of Congress Over Jeffrey Epstein Ties, His Flirtations With Ghislaine Maxwell