Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted last year of trafficking young girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse for the course of a decade, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail US District Judge Alison Nathan, while preparing to issue her sentence, said that Maxwell ‘directly and repeatedly and over the course of many years participated in a horrific scheme’ to traffic and abuse girls Nathan noted that a ‘substantial sentence’ was warranted before handing down Maxwell’s punishment, which included a $750,000 fine, the maximum penalty under the law Several of her accusers, including some who testified during her trial, addressed the judge in the Manhattan federal court house TuesdayNathan said at the top of the hearing that she had memorandums from the defense and prosecutors, letters from Maxwell’s loved ones, a psychiatric evaluation of Maxwell and victim impact statements Maxwell, 60, donning a short bob haircut, a blue long-sleeve jumpsuit with a long-sleeve shirt underneath it and a mask, repeatedly took sips of water as the hearing got underway When asked by the judge if she reviewed the case material, she replied: ‘I did have an opportunity to read it’ She would later address the victims while also referring to herself as a ‘victim of helping Jeffrey Epstein’ In her statements, which she read shortly before receiving her sentence, Maxwell said she hoped the victims would find ‘pleasure’ in her ‘conviction and harsh incarceration’ Judge Nathan had ruled that federal gu...