Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking charges in federal court on Wednesday and now faces up to 65 years in prison, may spill the beans on dozens of high-profile figures in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Maxwell, 60, is the only person who knows the full truth of whether any of the celebrities and dignitaries linked to the late sex offender could be implicated.
High-profile figures and social elites include former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump; Queen Elizabeth’s second son Prince Andrew and star attorney Alan Dershowitz. Former cabinet member and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and one-time Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell have also been linked to the financier. Hollywood stars including Kevin Spacey, Woody Allen, and Chris Tucker are also known to have been friends with Epstein.
The Maxwell family said they have already started the appeal process, and that telling the true story behind Epstein’s friendships with the rich and famous could be her only chance of not spending the rest of her life behind bars.
Jeffrey Epstein’s personal pilot, Larry Visoski, also gave testimony during the trial. According to The Associated Press, Visoski testified that he never saw evidence of sexual activity on planes as he flew Epstein and his high-profile passengers aboard the two jets he piloted for roughly 1,000 trips between 1991 and 2019.
Visoski told the court that he recalled Prince Andrew being a passenger on the jet as well as actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker. He also remembered violinist Itzhak Perlman and named tech mogul Bill Gates, and politician and former astronaut John Glenn.
In court on Tuesday, a woman using the pseudonym “Jane,” testified that Maxwell was sometimes present when the witness had sexual interactions with Epstein when she was aged 14, therefore proving that Ghislaine knows exactly who was involved. For the courts not to pursue this would be the biggest cover-up scandal of the 21st century.
Judge Alison Nathan has not set a date for Maxwell’s sentencing, so she has time to consider her strategy — but the now-convicted felon would have to convince the FBI that she is telling everything she knows about everyone to have any chance of winning time off her sentence.
Maxwell’s attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca said in 2019 that documents sealed in a civil case brought by one of Epstein’s main accusers, Virginia Giuffre contained ‘dozens if not hundreds’ of names.
