Ghislaine to request serving most of child sex trafficking sentence in a British prison

GHISLAINE MAXWELL will ask to serve her sex trafficking sentence in a UK prison, sources have revealed. The former socialite, who is the daughter of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell, faces up to 55 years in jail after being convicted of procuring young girls for the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She will be sentenced in New York on June 28. Ms Maxwell, 60, then plans to make a formal application to be transferred back to the UK for the bulk of her jail term. Under US law, she must spend the first three years in an American prison, but can then apply to return to the UK to be closer to family.

Maxwell’s brother Ian, 66, told The Daily Telegraph: “She is going to be sentenced and we are going to challenge the conviction on appeal... We want her to serve the sentence here in the UK. You can’t visit if she’s in the US.

“There is a programme where overseas nationals can serve their time in the country of their nationality.”

The family has said British prisons are “far superior” to those in the US and treat prisoners more humanely.

Maxwell has already spent almost two years in custody since her arrest in July 2020 – and until recently was kept in solitary confinement at the maximum-security Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as officials feared she would kill herself before her trial. Last month, she was moved into an area with 40 other inmates and is now allowed social visits.

However, Mr Maxwell said he had been prevented from visiting last week after the prison went into lockdown following a fight in the male wing of the jail. He had made a 3,000-mile trip for the arranged visit, but was turned away. The family believes Ms Maxwell has been kept in “inhumane” conditions with inadequate food.