United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell was a high-profile 2021 federal criminal trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York charging British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of financier Jeffrey Epstein, with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy related to Epstein's abuse network. The case centered on Maxwell's role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for sexual abuse as part of Epstein's sex trafficking operation. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and indicted on multiple counts including sex trafficking of a minor, conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The trial began in November 2021 and featured testimony from four accusers who detailed abuse between 1994 and 2004, highlighting Maxwell's involvement in enticing vulnerable minors into Epstein's orbit. The prosecution argued Maxwell was Epstein's chief accomplice, while the defense portrayed her as a scapegoat following Epstein's 2019 death. After a month-long trial, Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021, of five out of six counts (including sex trafficking and conspiracy charges), acquitted on one count of enticing a minor to travel. On June 28, 2022, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $750,000 fine. The case drew global attention due to connections to powerful figures in Epstein's social circle and raised questions about accountability in elite networks. Post-conviction, Maxwell appealed her verdict (denied in 2023), and the case remains part of ongoing investigations into Epstein's network, underscoring systemic failures in addressing sex trafficking among the wealthy and influential.