Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years of supervised release for federal sex trafficking.
In addition to prison time, Maxwell was fined $750,000.
A judge announced the sentence on June 28, six months after a jury found the British socialite guilty of helping the financier sexually abuse teenage girls. Maxwell, 60, was convicted of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, as well as two counts of perjury.
During the sentencing hearing, a number of victims read impact statements. After hearing their comments, Maxwell said in part, "It is hard for me to address the court after hearing the pain and anguish based on statements we have heard today. I want to acknowledge their suffering."
"I also want to acknowledge I have been convicted with helping Jeffrey Epstein with his crimes," she continued. "It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein."
Prosecutors had sought a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum of 55, writing June 23 that she played an "instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls."
"As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege," the memorandum filed stated, per NBC News. "Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can."
Prosecutors also wrote in their memo that Maxwell should pay the maximum fine of $750,000, noting that despite her reporting she has almost no assets, she previously told the court she had $22 million.
In their own sentencing memorandum, filed on June 15, Maxwell's attorneys argued that their client should be sentenced to less than 20 years. They also wrote, per NBC, that "it would be a travesty of justice for her to face a sentence that would have been appropriate for Epstein."
Maxwell was accused of recruiting and grooming four teenage girls between 1994 and 2004 for Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in 2019 in jail while awaiting his trial for sex trafficking charges.
After Maxwell was convicted in December, one of Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Giuffre, tweeted, "My soul yearned for justice for years and today the jury gave me just that. I will remember this day always. Having lived with the horrors of Maxwell's abuse, my heart goes out to the many other girls and young women who suffered at her hands and whose lives she destroyed."