Ghislaine Maxwell must 'give up powerful sex offenders' to have 'any chance' of reduced sentence

Ghislaine Maxwell must give up powerful individuals who had sex with underage girls if she is to have “any chance” of getting out of jail before she dies, a former New York prosecutor has said.

Elie Honig, a senior legal analyst for CNN and former prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, said co-operation represented “her best and perhaps only chance to get out.”

“Let's consider incentives. She's 60 years old, likely facing much or all of her remaining life behind bars, no real hope on appeal,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Maxwell would have to give up *everything* she ever did, and everything she knows about *anybody else.* No hedging, no holding back, no half-truths. If the SDNY is completely convinced she'll do that, cooperation is possible.”

However, Sarah Krissoff, a former prosecutor for the SDNY, told the Telegraph that any form of cooperation is “very unlikely”.

“First, given the expertise of the defence team, I am confident that they already explored that option with Maxwell. And, from what we know publicly, it appears that Maxwell has, to date, not attempted to cooperate,” she said.

“She would need to bring incredibly valuable information to the table that would enable the Government to prosecute other culpable individuals. Even if she has such information – which she very well may not – I would expect the Government to be very reluctant to meet with Maxwell, given the nature of the crimes and their respect for the victims.”

Among the potential co-conspirators is Jean-Luc Brunel, a French former model scout who has been charged in France with “having committed acts of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment on various minor or major victims and of having in particular organised the transport and accommodation of young girls or young women on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein."

Virginia Giuffre is among those who claims to have been raped by Mr Brunel. He denies the allegations against him.

It comes as Maxwell’s family are set to launch a fight-back appeal.

Maxwell’s brother Kevin said they “believe firmly in our sister’s innocence” and are confident she will “ultimately be vindicated”.

Maxwell faces spending the rest of her life behind bars after she was convicted on five of the six counts she was facing, including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a minor.

Sex trafficking of minors carries a maximum 40-year sentence. Maxwell was found not guilty of one count - enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

Kevin, alongside siblings Isabel and Christine, was in the front row in court as their sister's fate was read out.

Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell’s lawyer, told reporters that the defence has “already started working on the appeal”.

During the trial the judge dealt several blows to the defence – including ruling that their witnesses could not testify anonymously as some of Maxwell’s accusers were allowed to do.

And at one point Maxwell’s lawyers begged the judge for more time to locate witnesses, saying “our client’s life is on the line”.

On day 12, Defence attorney Laura Menninger told Judge Alison Nathan that they were struggling to track down a witness they had subpoenaed.

“I understand that your honour runs a tight ship,” she said. “We are flying people across the country, across the pond, our client’s life is on the line, and we are given only a half a day to put on a witness.”

Prosecutor Maurene Comey said the defence had reasonable time allocated to organise their witnesses.

“We strongly disagree with the suggestion that the defence counsel has been unduly rushed here,” she said.

According to legal experts, Maxwell could struggle to clear the legal bar needed to overturn the court’s verdict.

“Maxwell is going to have an uphill battle on any appeal. The appellate court gives great deference to the decisions of juries. And, frankly, the case was handled expertly on all sides,” Ms Krissoff said.

To succeed, her lawyers would have to show that the judge violated federal rules of evidence or abused her discretion, and that the error impacted the verdict.

If her appeal is unsuccessful, Maxwell could begin naming names in an effort to reduce her sentence, legal experts say.