The lawyers emphasized Maxwell's emotional wounds, saying that 'she had a difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic, and demanding father.'
This article contains references to sexual assault, child abuse and suicide.
In a brief filed on Wednesday evening, Maxwell's lawyers urged Judge Alison Nathan to sentence the disgraced British socialite to less than the probation department's recommended 20 years.Maxwell, 60, was convicted late last year of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late US financier Epstein.
"This Court cannot sentence Ms Maxwell as if she were a proxy for Epstein simply because Epstein is no longer here," her lawyers wrote. The lawyers emphasized Maxwell's emotional wounds, saying that "she had a difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic, and demanding father.""It made her vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her father's death," the lawyers said. "It is the biggest mistake she made in her life and one that she has not and never will repeat."