Ghislaine Maxwell says she should get less than 20-year sentence for sex abuse conviction

Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ghislaine Maxwell should spend fewer, and perhaps far fewer, than 20 years in prison for helping deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, her lawyers said on Wednesday, arguing that Epstein was the "mastermind" behind the abuse.

Maxwell, 60, "cannot and should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible," her lawyers wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in Manhattan federal court.