FACT CHECK: Was Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison?
A post shared on Facebook claims convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Verdict: Misleading
While Maxwell has been convicted she is still awaiting sentencing.
Fact Check:
Maxwell, a British socialite and a confidant of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking teenage girls between 1994 and 2004, according to NPR. Her conviction was upheld by a federal judge, though two counts of conspiracy were later dismissed, the outlet reported.
The Facebook post claims Maxwell received a 10-year prison sentence for her crimes. “Ghislaine Maxwell got 10 years and NOT one client has been arrested,” reads the post. (RELATED: Was A ‘F*** Joe Biden’ Sign Displayed On The Side Of A Stadium?)
This claim is misleading. While no one besides Maxwell and Epstein appears to have been arrested or charged in connection to the sex trafficking scheme the two operated, Maxwell has not yet been sentenced. Rather, she is scheduled for sentencing June 28, according to ABC News. The convicted sex trafficker is facing up to 55 years in prison, the outlet reported.
“Ghislaine Maxwell has not yet been sentenced on her conviction,” said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, in an email to Check Your Fact. “Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are the only defendants charged in this case.”
While many high-profile individuals, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, were mentioned during the trial, none of those individuals were alleged to have done anything wrong, according to The Independent.
This is not the first time Maxwell’s trial has been the subject of misinformation. Check Your Fact previously debunked a viral image that claimed to show 35 “co-conspirators” in the criminal case against Maxwell.