Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's request to toss conviction, says her claims are meritless

A judge rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's request to toss her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for helping disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer ⁠ruled that Maxwell’s claims were all ​meritless, and all or almost all were ​frivolous, NBC News reported. 

Maxwell, 64, who represented herself, challenged her 2021 conviction and sentence in a Manhattan federal court, and she sought a writ of habeas corpus declaring her punishment unlawful. 

She said many documents disclosed earlier this year show that her due process rights were violated. Lawyers representing Epstein’s accusers, Maxwell argued, served ​as “De ⁠Facto Prosecutors and agents of the government.”

In ruling that an appellate review isn't warranted in her case, Engelmayer said, as head of Epstein's household, Maxwell enforced silence among the staff at the late financier's multiple homes, and used methods typical of child predators. She also, the judge said, participated in the acts herself.