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(NewsNation) — Last week I sat down with Arthur Aidala, the lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last June for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
Maxwell, who recently launched an appeal, is serving out her term in the Florida Correctional Institution-Tallahassee. She was recently moved from an overcrowded area dubbed the “Snake Pit,” where fights break out daily and prisoners are crammed four into a cubiclelike area, to the honor dorm – where she will likely have her own room. I spoke with Aidala to find out what life was like for her now and got some eye-opening responses. Here are the biggest bombshells.
- Ghislaine Maxwell thinks she did nothing – not one thing – wrong.
When I asked Aidala if Maxwell thinks she has done anything wrong, he answered, “No, no. I mean, in her whole life, I’m sure she believes she’s done things wrong in life. But not regarding these charges.”
- She is “very popular” inside prison and has inmates watching her back.
When asked about her life in prison, Aidala answered: “ I can tell you that she is a very popular inmate and I know that sounds weird or odd. She’s very well-liked, and one of the reasons why she’s very well-liked is Ghislaine speaks, I think five languages, but she speaks Spanish very well. And there are a lot of Spanish women who are incarcerated and a lot of them who need help with their cases … and Ghislaine is always there helping them. She tells me she’s gotten 20 people, either their sentences shortened or terminated altogether. So, that’s a great reputation to have when you’re in prison, is to be known as someone who can help you get out of jail sooner rather than later.”
Regarding threats Maxwell may have received in prison, Aidala said: “There are things in prisons known as honor homicides. People who are in prison for the rest of their life will go try to kill a high-profile person because it gives them credibility amongst the other inmates. And that is something that we’re all afraid of for Ghislaine because she’s the biggest name in that prison. … I believe people around her have given her a heads up like, ‘you know, watch this one or watch that one’. She’s a popular person inside, and there are people watching her back.”
- Her ex-husband Scott Borgerson is likely paying her bills
When I asked Aidala, who charges $950 an hour, how Maxwell could afford her legal bills (he is not doing her case pro bono), he answered: “She has family. She has her ex-husband. That isn’t a problem.” Borgerson, a tech entrepreneur, is believed to have married Maxwell in 2016 and filed for divorce upon her conviction in December 2023.
The couple first met at an event linked to ocean preservation in Reykjavík in 2013 — when he was married to another woman. He soon left his wife and children, and The London Times reported that “soon after getting married, Maxwell transferred all of her assets to her husband in an attempt to protect her wealth from claims by the victims in the Epstein case.” Her wealth was estimated to be just over $20 million. It is likely this money that Borgerson is funneling to her defense. When Maxwell was arrested in 2022, he put up a$22.5 million bond to secure her pretrial release but was a no-show at her trial. He then allegedly left Maxwell for a yoga teacher.
- Aidala (falsely) claims there was no mention of Maxwell by the women until Epstein’s death — and they “had the time of their lives.”
Aidala said: “Asking a woman to give someone a massage is not a crime and by the way, these victims were flying on private jets. They were literally eating caviar for lunch. There’s at least one if not more than one who said the period of time with Jeffrey Epstein was ‘the greatest time of my life.’”
When I asked, “Are you saying that caviar and private jets make up for everything that these women, what these women are saying happened?” Aidala answered: “Well, it’s just interesting that they were, they didn’t say a word for I don’t know, 15 years, 20 years. They didn’t complain (until) they were in a position to get money.” This is false. Virginia Giuffre sued Maxwell in 2015 for abusing her, and several other women including Annie Farmer talked to press outlets between 2009 and 2018 about the abuse and Maxwell — but the articles were killed. Many women have said over the years they were traumatized and terrified of Epstein and Maxwell. He also claimed only one woman was a minor when the abuse took place, but three women testified saying they were underage.
- Aidiala isn’t “optimistic” about Maxwell’s appeal — but will try to take her case to the Supreme Court.
When asked about Maxwell’s chance at getting an appeal, Aidala said: “I will be honest with you, I am not overly optimistic. But this is the type of case that can go to the United States Supreme Court … this is a case that is eligible to go forth.” The biggest issue has to do with a non-prosecution agreement in 2008 when Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. In that deal, he asked for — and received — an agreement that also sought to prevent criminal charges from being brought “against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.” He named four women in the plea deal — Maxwell was not one of them.
“We’re asking that the case be thrown out because there was a non-prosecution agreement signed by Jeffrey Epstein. Which said, If I plead guilty, and I go to jail, you’re not gonna hurt anyone around me. So, we’re asking that the case get thrown out, gets thrown out the same way they did (with) Bill Cosby’s case where he signed a non-prosecution agreement and the prosecutor ripped it up and tried him anyway. And the appeals court said no, that’s a binding contract. And Mr. Cosby got to be set free.”
As for whether or not Maxwell is ready to spend 20 years in prison, Aidala said, “She’s a fighter. She’s smart. She has … she appears to be the type of person who will never stop fighting for her innocence.”