Ghislaine Maxwell has issued a statement to those who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting his trial for sex trafficking charges.
On June 28, the British socialite and confidante to Epstein was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years of supervised release for federal sex trafficking. Shortly before her sentence was handed down in court, Maxwell addressed the victims in the case and said, "It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein."
"Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you," she continued. "Today is not for Jeffrey Epstein, it is for me to be sentenced."
Explaining that she's had "plenty of time to think," Maxwell, 60, told the court she does "empathize deeply with all the victims in this case."
"I want to acknowledge their suffering," she said, telling the victims after hearing their impact statements, "I am sorry for the pain you have experienced."
She added that she hopes her conviction "brings peace and finality."
"It is my sincerest wish to all those in this courtroom that this day brings a terrible chapter to an end," Maxwell said. "May this day help you travel from the darkness into the light."
In addition to prison time and supervised release, Maxwell—who prosecutors accused of recruiting and grooming four teenage girls between 1994 and 2004 for Epstein—was fined $750,000. She 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.
Prosecutors previously sought a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum of 55, arguing that Maxwell played an "instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls."
In a statement to E! News on June 28, David Boies, an attorney for Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, said the sentence Maxwell received "reflects the seriousness of her crimes."
In her victim impact statement, Giuffre said Maxwell and Epstein "did unthinkable things" together said the sentence she received "reflects the seriousness of her crimes."
"I would not have met Jeffrey Epstein without you," she told Maxwell. "Because of your choices and the world you brought me into, I can't sleep."