US judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn Epstein convictions

NEW YORK, 26 AUGUST 2026 —

A United States federal judge has dismissed Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to throw out her five felony convictions for helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls, calling her claims “meritless” and “frivolous”.

Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, who did not preside over the original 2021 trial, denied Maxwell’s post-conviction challenge in a 67-page ruling made public on Tuesday. Engelmayer upheld Maxwell’s 20-year sentence and found her petition under Section 2255 of federal law to be “lengthy and rambling”.

Maxwell argued that materials released under the 2025 Epstein Files Transparency Act supported her defence, but Engelmayer ruled the records “incriminate her or reinforce the correctness of the legal rulings she challenges”. He also highlighted a contradiction in Maxwell’s own accounts. While her petition claimed she had “largely exited” Epstein’s household by 2002, a July 2025 interview with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated she continued managing his properties and staff years later.

Englemayer further noted that Maxwell’s filing did not implicate any other associates and did not concede Epstein’s guilt. He described the prosecution as “the epitome of a virtuous prosecution” and certified that any appeal of his ruling “would not be taken in good faith”.

Maxwell remains eligible for release in 2037. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her conviction in 2024, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear her final appeal last October.