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procedural error is found when a district court "fails to
calculate (or improperly calculates) the Sentencing
Guidelines range, treats the Sentencing Guidelines as
mandatory, fails to consider the [Section] 3553(a) factors,
selects a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or
fails adequately to explain the chosen sentence."53
The District Court did none of that. It is important
to emphasize that the Sentencing Guidelines "are
guidelines-that is, they are truly advisory."54 A
District Court is "generally free to impose sentences
outside the recommended range" based on its own
"informed and individualized judgment."55
With respect to the four-level leadership enhancement,
the District Court found that Maxwell "supervised"
Sarah Kellen in part because of testimony from two
of Epstein's pilots who testified that Kellen was
Maxwell's assistant. The District Court found that
testimony credible, in part because it was corroborated
by other testimony that Maxwell was Epstein's
"number two and the lady of the house" in Palm Beach,
where much of the abuse occurred and where Kellen
worked. 56 We therefore hold that the District Court did
not err in applying the leadership enhancement.
With respect to the length of the sentence, the
District Court properly discussed the sentencing
factors when imposing the sentence, and described, at
length, Maxwell's "pivotal role in facilitating the abuse
of the underaged girls through a series of deceptive
53 United States v. Robinson, 702 F.3d 22, 38 (2d Cir. 2012).
54 Cavera, 550 F.3d at 189.
55 Id.
56 A-417.
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