Judge rejects Maxwell's bid to overturn conviction

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's latest attempt to overturn her sex trafficking conviction and 20-year prison sentence, dismissing her claims as "meritless" and "frivolous." In a 67-page decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York denied Maxwell's habeas petition, which argued that newly released documents from the Epstein Files Transparency Act and other alleged constitutional violations warranted a new trial. Maxwell, 64, the longtime associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in December 2021 on five felony counts for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse.