Ghislaine Maxwell again asks judge to vacate her sex trafficking conviction and release her
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein are seen in one of the images released by the US Department of State. (The US Justice Department / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is again asking a federal judge in New York to vacate her sex trafficking conviction and release her from prison.
Maxwell submitted her new request, which she wrote herself, to federal prosecutors in New York, who said they received “a FedEx envelope — marked with a ‘ship date’ of April 16, 2026 — that contained a USB drive with the defendant’s amended motion and exhibits,” according to a letter to the district court that was posted online early Monday morning.
Prosecutors did not disclose details of Maxwell’s argument, which has not yet been filed on the public docket, but said it “seems to have some overlap” with her original motion to dismiss that district and appellate courts rejected in 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined to hear her appeal.
Having exhausted all of her direct appeals, Maxwell filed a habeas petition this past December in which she contended that “substantial new evidence has emerged” regarding her case. Maxwell’s submission this week comes after the district court judge, in February, allowed Maxwell to submit an amendment to that petition following the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.
Maxwell previously argued, unsuccessfully, that her conviction and her 20-year sentence should be tossed because she did not receive a fair trial and was covered by the non-prosecution agreement that Epstein’s attorneys had negotiated for him as part of the wealthy financier’s 2028 plea deal.
She also argued her conviction was based on vague allegations of “grooming” victims that did not amount to a crime.
Maxwell is currently serving her sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14.
In an interview with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month, Ghislaine Maxwell said nothing during the interview that would be harmful to President Donald Trump, telling Blanche that Trump had never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern, according to sources familiar with what Maxwell said.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.
US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel looks on prior to the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Elsa/Getty Images)
(MILAN) — FBI Director Kash Patel joined in on Team USA hockey’s locker room celebrations in Italy shortly after the team won the gold medal.
The team beat Canada 2-1 at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina on Sunday, marking the first such victory for the U.S. since the so-called “Miracle on Ice” game in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
Patel, a hockey fan, was said to have had meetings in Italy prior to attending the game. Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesperson, said on social media that Patel’s trip had been previously scheduled. He added that “any other personal expenses would be reimbursed.”
Patel on Sunday evening posted on social media a statement, which he said was for “the very concerned media.”
“[Y]es, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys — Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth,” he said in the post.
A video obtained by ABC News showed Patel wearing a USA shirt in the locker room, where he’s seen singing along with members of the team. After he takes a swig, shakes his bottle and pounds the table, a member of the team places a gold medal around his neck.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude – what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it,” Patel wrote on social media, where he posted photos of himself celebrating with the team in the locker room.
Patel added, ” Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.”
He included several emojis — a fist bump, American flag and a hockey stick — then said, “congrats boys.”
Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director, appeared on Monday to publicly defend Patel and the video, telling MS Now reporter Carol Leonnig on X, “don’t be mad because America won.”
Cheung was responding to Leonnig, who posted a video of Patel on social media and said the FBI had said it was “strictly a business trip.” Cheung said Patel was also meeting with security teams in Italy.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office released this image of a man in connection with a homicide, Feb. 2, 2026, in rural Momence near the Illinois/Indiana border. (Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office)
(KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill.) — A man has been arrested in the death of a bar owner who was fatally shot Monday morning near the Illinois-Indiana state border.
Julius E. Burkes Jr., 47, was arrested Tuesday in Indiana as he was exiting his residence, according to the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office.
Burkes is now being held in Indiana and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, where he will face charges, authorities said.
Burkes is accused of killing Courtney Drysdale, 30, while she was preparing to open the bar just before 11 a.m., when a suspect entered the bar, brandished a firearm and demanded money from the cash register, according to the sheriff’s office.
Despite Drysdale’s cooperation, the suspect allegedly shot her twice “execution style,” Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said at a press conference Tuesday.
Before fleeing, the suspect attempted to remove what he believed was a digital recording device from a wall, but investigators were able to recover video evidence, Downey said.
“This type of violent behavior has no place in our society, and I am extremely appreciative of the overwhelming support we received from the public, the media as well as our partners in the criminal justice system near and far,” Downey said in a statement after the arrest.
“I want to praise, not only the extraordinary efforts of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force, the FBI, the US Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Hammond Police Department on this quick and peaceful apprehension, but I want to commend the community-at-large for coming together and providing quantities of tips and information that ultimately led to this swift arrest,” said Downey.
Vilbrun Dorsainvil told ABC News he is “scared” of going back to Haiti. (Courtesy of Vilbrun Dorsainvil)
(NEW YORK) — Marlene Noble, 35, has lived more than 30 years of her life in the United States.
After being abandoned by her biological family after a hurricane hit her home country of Haiti, she was brought by Catholic Charities to the United States, where she was later adopted.
But when she turned 18, she learned that her adoptive family had not properly submitted the adoption and immigration paperwork, leaving her in legal limbo.
She spent years trying to fix her status — including filing for citizenship on her own in her mid‑20s and consulting multiple lawyers — before eventually applying in 2020 for Temporary Protected Status, which she was granted in 2023.
But now, Noble finds herself again facing uncertainty as the Trump administration’s move to end TPS — which provides work authorization and protection from deportation to people whose home countries are deemed unsafe — faces a high‑stakes test at the Supreme Court amid the administration’s immigration crackdown.
“America is my home, and it has been for 31 years,” Noble told ABC News. “It took three years for me to get granted TPS. So a lot of hard work went into this, just to have it potentially ripped away from me … It’s kind of cruel and inhumane to rip that away from us.”
Noble says she is “scared” about Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing, where the justices will consider whether the administration acted unlawfully in seeking to terminate TPS for Haitians and other groups.
The outcome could directly affect the futures of tens of thousands of TPS holders from Haiti and Syria.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said TPS was “never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
“The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this,” the spokesperson said. “We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”
In previous statements, DHS has also argued that, after reviewing country conditions and consulting with other U.S. government agencies, the DHS secretary determined that Haiti no longer meets the conditions for TPS designation.
But immigrant advocates and plaintiffs in the case argue that Haiti is not safe. They point to the State Department’s “do not travel” advisory that warns Americans not to go to Haiti because of gang violence, kidnapping and political instability. And just last week, the Federal Aviation Administration extended its ban on U.S. aircraft operating in and near Haiti due to safety concerns.
“The State Department advises people to do not go there,” said Vilbrun Dorsainvil, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case. “They know for sure that if we get back we will get killed, kidnapped.”
Dorsainvil, a former doctor in Haiti and currently a registered nurse in Springfield, Ohio, told ABC News that when he found out the Trump administration canceled TPS, he “stayed home for, like, for more than two weeks without going outside.”
“I was very scared of what might happen to me,” he said. “I didn’t go to work, I didn’t go to church, you know, visit any friends. I just stayed home because I was very scared that they would take me.”
Dorsainvil said he arrived in the U.S. in March 2021 on a tourist visa and then later was approved for TPS status.
“I bought a house. I have a mortgage,” he said. “I help a lot of people getting better in the hospital. I love the job I’m doing. I am useful here.”
“The idea of going back there right now is scaring me, it’s killing me inside,” Dorsainvil said. “I hope they will see the good we are bringing to the community. I hope they will see the situation in Haiti right now … it’s not safe for anyone … and I pray they would let us stay here.”
While Wednesday’s arguments will focus on the TPS status of Haitians and Syrians, the high-profile case has cast a ripple across other communities who fear they might be the next population to lose their status.
Anil Shahi, a TPS holder from Nepal, said he plans to protest outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday on behalf of the 1.3 million people who rely on TPS. A founding coordinator for United for TPS Nepal — an organization that represents more than 1,400 TPS holders from that country — Shahi said that the Trump administration’s revocation of TPS status has forced TPS holders to live in a state of uncertainty about their legal status.
“The uncertainty is a huge killer. It’s very painful. You don’t know what’s going to happen … you’re scared,” he told ABC News. “You cannot just pick up and leave.”
DHS designated Nepal for TPS in 2015 following a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the country that resulted in more than 8,800 deaths. The Trump administration sought to terminate the country’s TPS status in June 2025, though the change is the subject of an ongoing legal challenge.
According to Shahi, many Nepali TPS holders fear what might come next, in part because their personal information is readily available to authorities. With TPS recipients being vetted every 18 months, their addresses and personal data are known to the federal government.
“The government knows where we live. They know where we work. They have everything documented, right?” Shahi said. “So we are like a low-hanging fruit for them. It’s really easy for them to come after us if they really wanted to. And that’s what makes people really scared.”
Shahi said that Nepali TPS holders will be anxiously awaiting news from the Supreme Court, believing the outcome of Wednesday’s oral argument could indicate how their own legal fight will end.
At 56 years old, Shahi has lived the majority of his life in the United States and said he can’t imagine relocating to Nepal. He said that many Nepali TPS holders have U.S.-born children, and more than a hundred members of United for TPS Nepal own small businesses like restaurants, convenient stores, and beauty salons.
“I felt like I was a foreigner in my own country,” Shahi said about the last time he visited Nepal. “That was the point I realized I’m like really American, more than Nepali.”
