(MENAFN) Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, has announced plans to file a legal petition seeking her release from federal prison, as stated in a court filing submitted Wednesday. Maxwell intends to represent herself in the case, arguing that her continued detention is unlawful through a habeas corpus petition, a legal tool used to challenge unlawful imprisonment.

The filing did not provide detailed reasons for Maxwell’s challenge but emphasized concerns over the release of grand jury materials. Her attorneys argued that unsealing the records, which could include "untested and unproven allegations," would create "undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial" should her petition succeed. Grand jury documents typically contain evidence and testimony gathered prior to formal charges being filed.

This legal move comes in response to a Justice Department request in November to unseal grand jury records from the Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions. The request followed the signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act by President Donald Trump, which mandates the release of files related to the cases.

Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 for her role in recruiting girls, some as young as 14, for Epstein and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022. Her appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in October 2025, which upheld her conviction on five counts, including sex trafficking of a minor. Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

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