Former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday (June 28), The New York Times reports. This means that she could very well spend the rest of her life in prison.

Maxwell is known as the co-conspirator to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender. The conviction determines her role in helping him to sexually exploit and abuse underage girls.

While the sentence is severe, it is shorter than the original recommendation by the government. Originally, federal prosecutors asked that the judge impose a sentence of at least 30 years.

Through testimonies and other evidence presented during the trial, Maxwell was labeled as a sophisticated predator who “preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them and served them up to be sexually abused by Epstein.”

“Years of sexual abuse, multiple victims, devastating psychological harm: none of this could have happened without Maxwell,” prosecutors wrote to Judge Alison J. Nathan, the official presiding over the case.

In July 2019, Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors. On August 10 of that same year he was found dead in his federal jail cell at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Epstein’s death a suicide by hanging. However, after a four-hour autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist hired by the 66-year-old’s brother, Dr. Michael Baden believed that he was murdered.

“There were fractures on the left, the right thyroid cartilage and the left hyoid bone,” said Dr. Baden during an interview on “60 Minutes.” “Going over a thousand jail hanging, suicides in New York City state prisons over the past 40-50 years, no one had three fractures.”

According to Maxwell’s lawyers, Epstein ran the entire operation that led to the abuse encountered by victims in the case. “Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification.”

Her attorneys also revealed that Maxwell has plans to appeal her conviction.