Mega Edition: The United States And It's Response Brief To Maxwell's Motion For Appeal (Part 1-2) (12/3/25)

When the government files a brief in response to a defendant's appeal, its function is to present arguments and legal reasoning supporting the lower court's decision and opposing the defendant's arguments for overturning that decision. This brief serves to defend the conviction or ruling made against the defendant in the lower court.

Typically, the government's brief will address the legal issues raised by the defendant on appeal, analyze relevant case law, statutes, and constitutional principles, and argue why the lower court's decision should be upheld. It may also address any procedural or evidentiary issues raised by the defendant.


In essence, the government's brief is a key component of the appellate process, where both sides present their arguments to the appellate court, which will ultimately decide whether to affirm, reverse, or modify the lower court's decision.


In this episode, we begin our look at the United States Governments brief in response to Ghislaine Maxwell's attempt at appealing her sentence.



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
In this episode, we're going to begin taking a look
at the United States government and the brief in regard
to Glan Maxwell's attempt to get an appeal the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit case number
twenty two DASH fourteen twenty six, United States of America

(00:24):
versus Gallan Maxwell, also known as Sealed Defendant Number one.
The brief for the United States of America preliminary statement
Glan Maxwell's appeal from a judgment of conviction entered on
June twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York by
the Honorable Alice and J. Nathan, United States Circuit Judge,

(00:48):
sitting by designation, following a four and a half week
Jerry trial. The superseding indictment S two twenty c R.
Three point thirty A jn. The indictment was filed on
March twenty nine, nine, twenty twenty one, in eight counts,
Count one charge Maxwell with conspiracy to entice miners to
travel to engage in illegal sex acts in violation of

(01:09):
US Code eighteen, Section three seventy one. Count two charge
Maxwell with the enticement of a minor in violation of
eighteen US Code Section twenty four. Twenty two and two
count three charge Maxwell with conspiracy to transport miners to
engage in illegal sexual activity in violation of US Code
eighteen section three seventy one. Count four charge Maxwell with

(01:33):
transportation of a minor with intend to engage in illegal
sexual activity in violation of US Code eighteen section twenty
four twenty three A and two count five charge Maxwell
with sex trafficking conspiracy in violation of US Code eighteen
section three seventy one. Count six charge Maxwell with sex
trafficking of a minor in violation of US Code eighteen

(01:56):
section fifteen ninety one A and B two two Count
seven and eight charge Maxwell with perjury in violation of
US Code eighteen Section sixteen twenty three. Trial on counts
one through six commenced on November twenty ninth, twenty twenty one,
and it ended on December twenty ninth, twenty twenty one,
when the jury found Maxwell guilty on counts one and

(02:19):
three through six and acquitted Maxwell on count two. On
June twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, Judge Nathan sentenced Maxwell
to a term of two hundred and forty months imprisonment,
to be followed by five years supervised release, and imposed
a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars fine and a
three hundred dollars mandatory special assessment. Maxwell is serving her sentence.

(02:42):
The Statement of Facts A the Government's case. The government's
evidence a trial established that, over the course of a decade,
Maxwell facilitated and participated in the sexual abuse of multiple
young girls. From nineteen ninety four to two thousand and four,
Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were together to identify girls, groom them,

(03:02):
and then entice them to travel and transport them to
Epstein's properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and elsewhere.
The girls, some of whom were as young as fourteen
years old, were then sexually abused, often under the guise
of a massage. The evidence at trial included, among other things,
the testimony of for women who described the sexual abuse

(03:24):
they suffered at the hands of Maxwell and Epstein, the
testimony of former employees of Epstein and Maxwell, the testimony
of law enforcement officers corroborating physical evidence, including photographs, of
and evidence recovered from searches of Epstein's residences and Maxwell
and Epstein's black address book and other corroborating records, such

(03:47):
as flight logs of Epstein's private planes and FedEx records.
Beginning in approximately nineteen ninety one, Maxwell had a close
and intimate relationship with Epstein. Maxwell was Epstein's girlfriend for
many years until the early two thousands, after which Maxwell
and Epstein remained close friends for over a decade. Maxwell

(04:07):
traveled with Epstein, a multi millionaire, on his private planes
and mingled with rich and famous people while enjoying a
life of extraordinary luxury. Maxwell and Epstein spent time together
in Epstein's various properties, including his mansion on the Upper
East Side of Manhattan, his villa in the Palm Beach,
his ranch in New Mexico, his apartment in Paris, and

(04:28):
his private island in the US Virgin Islands. Maxwell also
received a townhouse that Epstein bought four in New York City,
and Epstein transferred more than twenty three million dollars to
Maxwell during the time frame of the conspiracy. In addition
to her role as Epstein's girlfriend, Maxwell also supervised Epstein's
households as the lady of the house. Once she took

(04:50):
charge of Epstein's homes, she imposed herict rules for staff,
some of which were included in a household manual dictating
the operation of the Palm Beach Residents. To protect your
criminal activities from exposure, Maxwell fostered a culture of silence
at Epstein's homes. The household manual made clear that staff
were to see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing except to

(05:13):
answer a question directed at that staff member. Maxwell directed
Juana Lessi, the former house manager of Epstein's Pombach villa,
to speak to Epstein only when spoken to, and not
to look Epstein in the eyes. This culture of silence
provided cover for Maxwell and Epstein to sexually abuse young girls.
In the early phase of the conspiracy between nineteen ninety

(05:35):
four and two thousand and one, Maxwell and Epstein identified
vulnerable girls, typically from single mother households and difficult financial circumstances.
Maxwell and Epstein then isolated the girls, spending time with
them away from their family and friends. During that time,
they groomed the girls through techniques such as giving them gifts,
pretending to be friends, and building trust. Maxwell and Epstein

(05:59):
then normalized sexual situations and sexual touching. Finally, they transitioned
to sexual abuse, often through the pretext of giving Epstein
a massage. In the later phase of the scheme, from
two thousand and one through two thousand and four, Maxwell
and Epstein developed a stream of girls who were recruited
other girls to visit Epstein at Palm Beach residence. Maxwell

(06:20):
and Epstein paid young girls hundreds of dollars in cash
in exchange for meeting Epstein to be sexually abused under
the pretext of giving Epstein a massage. Once a girl
was introduced to these sexualized massages, she was offered more
money if she brought other girls to engage in sexualized massages.
The trial evidence focused on six girls who suffered abuse

(06:43):
of sexual contact as a result of Maxwell's criminal actions. Jane, Kate, Annie, Carolyn, Virginia,
and Melissa One. Sexual abuse of Jane. Maxwell and Epstein
met Jane in nineteen ninety four, when she was just
fourteen years old at a summer camp for talented kids.
Jane was particularly vulnerable as her father had just died,

(07:06):
a fact that she had told both Epstein and Maxwell,
and her family was struggling financially. Maxwell and Epstein cultivated
a relationship with Jane, spending time with her at Epstein's
pom Beach home and taking her to the movies and shopping.
Maxwell and Epstein gave Jane gifts, and Jane came to
look up to Maxwell like an older sister figure. Maxwell

(07:27):
and Epstein sexually abused Jane's starting when she was fourteen
years old, and the sexual abuse continued for years. When
Jane was still only fourteen years old, Maxwell and Epstein
instructed Jane to follow them to Epstein's bedroom, where Maxwell
and Epstein fondled each other, casually giggling while Epstein asked
Jane to take her top off. After this sexual interaction,

(07:50):
Maxwell and Epstein taught Jane how Epstein liked to be
massaged and gave Jane instructions about touching Epstein's penis. Jane
was repeatedly sexually abused by Epstein between the ages of
fourteen and sixteen years old, and Maxwell was frequently in
the room when the abuse happened. Over time, the abuse
escalated as Epstein used vibrators on Jane, put fingers in

(08:12):
Jane's vagina, and asked Jane to straddle his face. Maxwell
sometimes touched Jane, including her breast, during these incidents. Jane
also traveled with Maxwell, who assisted Jane in making travel arrangements,
and Epstein to Epstein's townhouse in New York City his
ranch in New Mexico, where she was sexually abused. Two

(08:34):
sexual abuse of Kate Maxwell and Epstein. Sexual abuse of
Kate started in nineteen ninety four, around the same time
that Maxwell and Epstein started sexually abusing Jane. After Kate,
then seventeen years old, told Maxwell that she lived alone
with her mother and had a difficult home life, Maxwell
introduced Kate to Epstein in London. Maxwell delivered Kate to

(08:57):
a naked Epstein in Maxwell's own home for massa and
told Kate to have a good time. During these massages,
Epstein initiated sexual contact. Kate traveled to meet both Maxwell
and Epstein in Palm Beach, the Virgin Islands, and New
York City between ages eighteen and twenty four. Epstein initiated
sexual activity with Kate every time she visited him. Maxwell

(09:21):
brought up sexual topics with Kate, ranging from talking about
how sexually demanding Epstein was to asking if Kate knew
anybody who could come and give Jeffrey a blowjob to
remarking that Epstein like cute, young, pretty girls like Kate.
When Kate was approximately eighteen years old, she visited Epstein
and Maxwell and Palm Beach. Maxwell left a schoolgirl outfit

(09:44):
for Kate and said it would be fun for Kate
to wear it for Epstein. Kate, alone in a place
she had never previously visited, complied. Epstein initiated sexual contact
with Kate and engaged in a sex act with her.
Later that day, Maxwell asked Kate if she had fun
and told Kate she was a good girl and one
of Epstein's favorites. Epstein engaged in unwonted sexual activity with

(10:08):
Kate multiple times during the same trip. Number three Sexual
abuse of Annie Farmer. Maxwell also took steps to normalize
sexual contact with Annie Farmer, who was then sixteen years old.
Annie first met Epstein on a trip to New York,
where she and her older sister visited Epstein's Manhattan townhouse

(10:28):
and during which Epstein began to groom Annie by stroking
her hand in leg while watching a movie with her.
In the spring of nineteen ninety six, Annie's mother at
Epstein's request, agreed to send Annie to Epstein's ranch in
New Mexico for a retreat for a group of students
who were academically gifted. Annie felt more comfortable going once

(10:49):
she understood that Maxwell, a grown woman in her romantic
relationship with Epstein, would be there. During the New Mexico trip,
Maxwell took steps to normalize sexual contact under the ruse
of massage. Maxwell instructed Annie to hold Epstein's foot and
showed her how to give Epstein a foot massage. Maxwell
then offered to give Annie a massage. After telling Annie

(11:11):
to get undressed, Maxwell gave Annie a massage on a
massage table. While Annie was naked. During the massage, Maxwell
directed Annie to roll over so that Annie was laying
on her back. After Annie complied enrolled to her back,
Maxwell pulled the sheet down and exposed Dannie's breas. Then,
while Annie was naked, Maxwell rubbed Danni's breas. During this

(11:33):
same trip to New Mexico, Epstein later got into Dannie's bed,
cuddled with her, pressed his body into her, and rubbed
against her. But when Annie managed to extricate herself from
the situation by running to the bathroom, thereby denying Epstein
further sexual contact. Maxwell seemed very disinterested in Annie for
the remainder of the trip. All right, we're gonna wrap

(11:54):
up part one here and in the next episode, we're
gonna pick up where we left off, and that's with
the Sexual Abuse of Virginia Roberts. All of the information
that goes with this episode can be found in the
description box. What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the
Epstein Chronicles. We're going to pick up where we left
off with the US Government's brief in response to Glenn

(12:15):
Maxwell's attempt at an appeal number four, the sexual Abuse
of Virginia Roberts. Beginning in or about the summer of
two thousand, Maxwell and Epstein entered into a new phase
of their scheme to sexually abuse teenage girls. That summer,
Maxwell recruited a seventeen year old girl named Virginia Roberts

(12:35):
from the parking lot of Omar A Lago to provide
Epstein with massages. Over the next several months, Virginia was
paid to provide Epstein with sexualized massages at his Palm
Beach residents in exchange for one hundreds of dollars in
cash for each massage. Virginia also traveled with Epstein and
Maxwell to other locations, including New York and the Virgin

(12:56):
Islands on Epstein's private plane. Virginia brought other her teenage
girls to Epstein's pom Beach house. One of those girls
was fourteen year old girl named Carolyn, who Virginia introduced
to Maxwell and Epstein at the pom Beach villa in
two thousand and one five The Sexual Abuse of Carolyn.
Carolyn met Maxwell the very first time she went to

(13:18):
Epstein's house, and she interacted with Maxwell multiple times thereafter.
On Carolyn's first visit to the house, Maxwell greeted Virginia,
who introduced Carolyn to Maxwell. Maxwell then told Virginia, you
can bring her upstairs and show her what to do.
After Virginia showed Carolyn how to perform sexual massages on Epstein. Thereafter,

(13:39):
Carolyn performed over one hundred page sexualized massages for Epstein
when she was between fourteen and eighteen years old. The
vast majority involved the same course of abuse, through which
Epstein masturbated, touched Carolyn's breasts and buttocks, and directed Carolyn
to touch his nipples. Epstein also attempted to touch Carolyn's

(13:59):
vagina with a vibrator, brought other females into the room
to engage in oral sex with Carolyn, and rate Carolyn
by penetrating her vagina with his penis. At first, Maxwell
personally scheduled Carolyn's appointments with Epstein, including all phone calls
from New York, and sometimes sent a car to pick
Carolyn up because she was too young to drive. Maxwell

(14:20):
also engaged Carolyn in conversations, during which Carolyn revealed that
she had previously been sexually abused by a relative, that
her parents were separated, and that her mother struggled with addiction.
Maxwell invited Carolyn to travel with Maxwell and Epstein, but
Carolyn responded that because she was only fourteen years old,
she would not be able to get permission to travel.

(14:42):
Carolyn was paid several hundred dollars in one hundred dollars
bills after each massage, and Carolyn also received gifts of
lingerie from Epstein and Maxwell's shipped from Manhattan to her
home in Florida. Usually the money was laid out on
the table or by the sink in the bathroom, but
Maxwell well personally paid Carolyn after a few massages. Maxwell

(15:04):
saw Carolyn fully nude in the massage room on approximately
three occasions, when Carolyn had already undressed in preparation for
the massage, but before Epstein entered the room. On one
such occasion, when Carolyn was fourteen years old, Maxwell told
Carolyn that she had a nice body and touched Carolyn's breast.
At some point, Epstein asked Carolyn if she had any

(15:25):
young friends that she could bring four massages. Carolyn ended
up bringing multiple girls to Epstein for sexualized massages, including
multiple miners. When Carolyn brought girls to massage Epstein, both
the girl and Carolyn would be paid hundreds of dollars
in cash. Number six sexual abuse of Melissa. One of
the minor girls Carolyn brought to provide paid sexualized massages

(15:48):
to Epstein was a sixteen year old girl named Melissa.
Melissa went to Epstein's residence to provide Epstein with massages
on multiple occasions when she was under the age of eighteen.
When Melissa and Carolyn went to the pom Beach house,
they remained in the home for about an hour and
then returned with hundreds of dollars in cash. B The

(16:09):
defense case verdict and sentencing Maxwell called nine witnesses in
her defense case, including former employees and dissociates, as well
as an expert on memory. On December twenty ninth, twenty
twenty one, the jury found Maxwell guilty of counts one, three, five, four,
and six. On April first, twenty twenty two, Judge Nathan

(16:32):
denied Maxwell's motion for a new trial pursue it to
fed R Rule of Criminal Procedure thirty three, based on
a juris provision of inaccurate information during jury selection, as
discussed in greater detail in Point three. On April twenty ninth,
twenty twenty two, Judge Nathan denied all but one of
Maxwell's remaining post trial motions. Judge Nathan found that the

(16:54):
three conspiracy counts count one, three, and five were multiplicitis
and that she therefore would enter judgment on count three
alone among the conspiracy counts. On June twenty ninth, twenty
twenty two, Judge Nathan sentenced Maxwell to sixty months imprisonment
on count three, one hundred and twenty months imprisonment on
count four, and two hundred and forty months imprisonment on

(17:17):
count six, all to run concurrently, to be followed by
five years supervise release and imposed a seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars fine and a three hundred dollars mandatory
special assessment. Argument point one, the District Court correctly concluded
that Jeffrey Epstein's non prosecution agreement does not bar Maxwell's

(17:37):
prosecution in the Southern District of New York. In two
thousand and seven, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern
District of Florida entered into a non prosecution agreement with
Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell argues that this agreement, which neither she
nor the U s Attorney's Office for the SDNY signed,
nevertheless bars her prosecution in the Southern District of New

(17:58):
York in this case, and she twice sought dismissal of
the charges in the indictment on that ground. The District
Court denied the motions to dismiss, correctly recognizing that Maxwell's
argument is precluded by the text of the agreement and
the court's long standing precedent. Accordingly, this court should affirm
the denial of the motion to dismiss the relevant facts.

(18:21):
In two thousand and five, the Palm Beach Police Department
in Florida opened an investigation into Epstein on the complaint
of the parents of a fourteen year old girl. The
Palm Beach Police ultimately brought the investigation to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation in West Palm Beach, which it turned
opened an investigation with the U s Attorney's Office for
the Southern District of Florida. That investigation culminated in a

(18:45):
draft sixty page indictment proposing to charge Abstein for the
sexual abuse of multiple victims. In two thousand and seven,
the USAO SDFL and Epstein entered into a non prosecution agreement.
The agreement was signed on the authority of our Alexandra Acosta,
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Under

(19:06):
the terms of the NPA, Epstein agreed to plead guilty
in appending Florida State case and to receive a sentence
of at least eighteen months imprisonment and twelve months community control.
He also consented to jurisdiction in the Southern District of
Florida for civil suits involving victims specified by the USAO SDFL,

(19:26):
among other terms. In exchange, USAO SDFL agreed to defer
prosecution in the district once Epstein completed. As half of
the bargain, the NPA provided that no prosecution for the
offenses then under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the US Attorney's Office will be instituted in this district.

(19:49):
The NPA also provided that if Epstein complied with the agreement,
the United States also agrees that it will not institute
any criminal charges against any potential co conspir of Epstein, including,
but not limited to, four named individuals, none of whom
was Maxwell. Indeed, Maxwell was neither a party to the
agreement nor involved in negotiating its terms. This provision appears

(20:13):
to have been added with little discussion or consideration by
the prosecutors. The NPA continues that upon execution of this
agreement and the plea agreement with the state's Attorney's office,
the federal grand jury investigation will be suspended. The agreement
was executed on September twenty fourth, two thousand and seven,
and Epstein pled guilty in state court on June thirty,

(20:36):
two thousand and eight. In twenty nineteen, the Department of
Justice Office of Professional Responsibility conducted an investigation into the
negotiation surrounding the NPA and issued a two hundred and
ninety page report containing detailed factual findings. After the U.
S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
charged Maxwell in this case in the Southern District of

(20:58):
New York, she twice moved to dis s miss the
charges on the grounds that they were barred by the NPA.
The District court denied the motions, concluding that the NPA
does not bind the USAO SDN y B applicable law.
The court is long held that a plea agreement binds
only the office of the United States Attorney for the

(21:19):
district in which the plea is entered, unless it affirmatively
appears that the agreement contemplates a broader restriction. United States
versus Anneb seven to seventy one F. Dot two D
six seventy six seventy two, Second Circuit, nineteen eighty five,
accord eg. United States versus Prisco three ninety one f.
Appendix nine to twenty nine to twenty one, Second Circuit

(21:41):
twenty ten. United States versus Salama one fifty two F.
Three d eighty eight one, twenty Second Circuit nineteen ninety eight.
The requisite Affirmative appearance may be established by an express
statement in the plea agreement, or it may be inferred
from the negotiations between the defendant and the prosecut as
well as from the statements at the plea colloquy. United

(22:04):
States versus Russo eight oh one F dot two, d
six twenty four six twenty six, Second Circuit. Nineteen eighty six.
This Court reviews de noovo both the denial of emotion
to dismiss an indictment and the interpretation of a plea agreement.
United States versus Montague, sixty seven f. Fourth five, twenty five,

(22:25):
twenty seven, Second Circuit twenty twenty three. United States versus Padilla,
one eighty six F dot three, d one thirty six,
one thirty nine, Second Circuit. Nineteen ninety nine. This Court
reviews for abuse of discretion a district court's denial of
an evidentiary hearing before ruling on a motion to dismiss.
United States versus Walters nine ten F. Dot three d eleven,

(22:49):
twenty two, twenty eight, Second Circuit twenty eighteen. United States
versus Greenberg eight thirty five F dot three d two
ninety five three ozh five, Second six twenty sixteen see discussion.
The District Court correctly rejected Maxwell's argument that the NPA
bars this prosecution. Maxwell has no right to invoke the

(23:12):
protections of the NPA because she is neither a Party
two nor a third party beneficiary of the agreement. But
even if Maxwell had standing under the NPA, it would
not bar this prosecution because it was plainly intended to
bind only the us AO SDFL. Thus, Judge Nathan rightly
concluded that under long standing Second Circuit precedent, the NPA

(23:35):
does not bind us AOSDNY. Accordingly, this court should affirm
the denial of Maxwell's motions to dismiss. All right, we're
going to wrap up this episode here and in the
next episode we're gonna pick up where we left off,
and that's with Maxwell is not entitled to enforce the NPA.
All of the information that goes with this episode can

(23:57):
be found in the description box.