Prince Andrew 'put pressure on the US government to give Jeffrey Epstein a plea deal' which saw the pedophile jailed for only 18 months in 2008, unsealed documents claim

Prince Andrew 'lobbied the US government to help get a sweetheart plea-deal for pedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein' that saw him jailed for just 18 months in 2008, newly unsealed court documents claim.

The allegation is contained within a motion by lawyers for two anonymous Epstein accusers who were trying to get hold of documents which they claim showed Andrew's lobbying efforts.

The motion forms part of a 2015 libel case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam, which have been kept under lock and key until today - when they were released following her arrest on sex trafficking charges.

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Prince Andrew 'lobbied the US government to get a favorable plea deal for pedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein which saw him jailed for just 13 months in 2009', new documents allege (pictured, Andrew alongside Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001)

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Prince Andrew drives himself out of Windsor Castle in his Bentley on Thursday, just hours before the first trove of documents were released

Lawyers for the pair, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, wrote: '(They are) seeking documents regarding Epstein’s lobbying efforts to persuade the government to give him a favorable plea arrangement, including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

'They have alleged these materials are needed to prove their allegations that, after Epstein signed the non-prosecution agreement his performance was delayed while he used his significant social and political connections to lobby the justice department to obtain a more favorable plea deal.'

The newly-released documents also contain a transcript of a deposition given by Epstein's main accuser, Virginia Roberts, where she also speaks about the prince's involvement in Epstein's activities.

Asked by her own lawyers in 2011 whether Andrew would have 'relevant information' in the case, she answered: 'Yes, he would know a lot of the truth.

'I don’t know how much he’d be able to help you with, but seeing as he’s in a lot of trouble himself these days I think he might, so I think he might be valuable.' 

Prince Andrew claims he distanced himself from Epstein after the conviction, meeting with him once in New York in 2010 to formally cut ties. 

Roberts separately claims she had sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions, including once in a Caribbean jurisdiction where she was underage, after being trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell.

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The documents form part of a 2015 libel lawsuit that Epstein's primary accuser, Virginia Roberts (pictured, brought against Maxwell - but were sealed after it was settled out of court 

She was pictured alongside Andrew in Maxwell's London townhouse in 2001, hours after she claims she first met Andrew in Tramp nightclub in Mayfair.

Roberts claims the pair also had sex that evening - an act that made her feel so dirty and ashamed that she showered straight afterwards. 

Andrew, once a close friend of both Epstein and Maxwell, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Prince Andrew is also facing pressure to speak to the FBI to aid their investigation into Epstein and his inner circle, including Maxwell.

US Attorney General Bill Barr said earlier this year that Andrew must speak to the FBI and his team 'definitely' want to interview him.

He said: 'The department wants to talk to Prince Andrew. That's why the Southern District has been making efforts to communicate with him. We've made it clear that we'd like to communicate with him'.

A source close to Prince Andrew previously told DailyMail.com that he was 'bewildered' by the ongoing claims that he wasn't cooperating, and says his team tried to reach prosecutors several times.

Andrew's legal team claim they have been 'ghosted' by US prosecutors, despite repeated offers of help in the case.

Elsewhere in Robert's testimony, she claims that Maxwell undressed her and told her to lick Jeffrey Epstein's nipples during their first meeting when she was just 15.

Roberts detailed the ordeal in testimony she gave to lawyers in 2011, which formed part of a 2015 libel case against Maxwell that has been kept secret until now.

Roberts said Maxwell also stripped naked, instructed her to perform oral sex on Epstein while he fondled her, and then told her to 'straddle him sexually'.

In separate testimony, Roberts also recounted 'continuous' orgies that Maxwell was involved in on Epstein's private Caribbean island with underage girls.

Roberts said girls were routinely flown in via private jet to participate in sex sessions which happened all over the island.

Asked to describe women she personally saw Maxwell have sexual contact with, she responded: 'There's so many, I don't know where you want me to start.'

'There were blondes, there were brunettes, there were redheads. They were all beautiful girls. I would say the ages ranged between 15 and 21,' she added.

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Ghislaine Maxwell had 'continuous' orgies on Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island with girls as young as 15, accuser Virginia Roberts claims in newly-unsealed court documents

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Little St James Island, in the Caribbean (pictured), was owned by Epstein and was where Roberts alleges the orgies took place 

Maxwell participated in sex sessions with them by a pool, near the beachfront, in small huts and in Epstein's cabana, she alleged.

'One occasion stands out,' she said. 'Models were — I think they were models — were flown in. There were orgies held outside by the pool.'

The women - 'beautiful, tall, some were blonde, some were sandy brown' - did not speak English, and conversed in a European language that Roberts guessed was Russia or Czech.

Describing the sex session, she added: 'Ghislaine, myself, Jeffrey, another girl in this blue, outdoor — I don't know what you want to call it. Cabana, that … just a bed could fit in.'

Roberts also alleges that during the deposition that she was trafficked to Europe to have sex with powerful men, including Britain's Prince Andrew and attorney Alan Dershowitz.

She said Maxwell and Epstein constantly reminded her of how powerful their friends were, so that she wouldn't betray them.

'Jeffrey did a lot more of that than she did. But she definitely made it aware that we shouldn't cross boundaries with them,' she said.

Describing her first meeting with Epstein, she said: 'For the first hour, it was actually a real massage, maybe not an hour, maybe like 40 minutes or something.

'That's when he turned over on the other side to expose himself fully.

'So then Ghislaine told me that she wanted me to undress and began to take off my shirt and skirt, my white uniform from Mar-A-Lago, she also took off her shirt and got undressed, and so I was there with just my undies on, and she was completely bare...

'During all of this I'm like: "What's going on, how do I act, what do I say." I was so afraid of, not afraid or fearful for my life, but unsure of how all this started and wanting to obtain a profession, I was so afraid thinking about upsetting and disappointing them...

'I was expected to lick [Epstein's] nipples, instructed on how to do so by [Epstein] and give him oral sex while he wanted to fondle me, and then at the end, I was told by Ghislaine to get on top and straddle Jeffrey sexually...

'When we were done, we went and had a shower in the room and Jeffrey told me to wash him up and down...'

Also included in the tranche of unsealed documents are flight logs from Epstein's private jets, police logs Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a home, and email exchanges between Maxwell and Epstein himself.

In one such exchange, in January 2015, Maxwell asks Epstein if 'Shelley' - believed to be one of Epstein's accusers - could publicly state she was his girlfriend.

Court papers pertaining to a 2015 deposition civil defamation case against Maxwell included a January 2015 email Epstein sent to Maxwell insisting she had 'done nothing wrong'

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A separate email exchange from days earlier showed Epstein emailed Maxwell what appeared to be a court statement proclaiming her innocence, but was written from her point of view

In response, Epstein writes: 'You have done nothing wrong and i woudl [sic] urge you to start acting like it.

'Go outside, head high, not as an esacping [sic] convict. go to parties. deal with it', he added.

The email exchange appears to confirm that Maxwell lied during a bail hearing, in which she claimed she hadn't spoken to Epstein in over a decade.

Days earlier, Epstein had emailed Maxwell what appeared to be a court statement proclaiming her innocence, which read as if it was written by her.

'Since JE was charged in 2007 for solicitation of a prostitute I have been the target of outright lies, innuendo, slander, defamation and salacious gossip and harrassment; headlines made up of quotes I have never given, statement I have never made,' it reads.

'I have never been a party in any criminal action pertaining to JE.'

The statement also claimed Maxwell had been in a 'very long-term committed relationship to another man' at the time of Epstein's conviction.

'Whilst I remained on friendly terms with him up until his plea, I have had limited contact since,' it continues.

Roberts gave the testimony to investigators after filing a lawsuit against Maxwell in 2015, accusing the British socialite of libel after she branded her a 'liar'.

Maxwell eventually settled the suit out of court for an undisclosed sum, though to be millions, and the documents were put under seal so they could not be made public.

But Judge Loretta Preska ordered swathes of the papers to be unsealed following Maxwell's arrest earlier this month on sex crimes charges.

She is also charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath during a seven-hour deposition she made during the lawsuit.

On Thursday, Maxwell filed an emergency motion with the federal appeals court in Manhattan to block the release of that deposition, along with one other document.

Lawyers for Maxwell said making her deposition public could make it 'difficult if not impossible' to find an impartial jury for her criminal trial.

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The trove of documents were publicly released hours after a district judge denied her last ditch attempt to keep them sealed

The two depositions, and materials that quote from or disclose information contained in them, were expected to remain sealed at least until Monday, depending on how the appeals court rules.

Materials covered by Preska's July 23 order included flight logs from Epstein's private jets; and police reports from Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a home, among other documents.

Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse three girls from 1994 to 1997, and committing perjury by denying her involvement under oath.

She was arrested on July 2, and has been housed in a Brooklyn jail after a judge called her a flight risk. Maxwell's trial is scheduled for next July.

Epstein was found hanged at age 66 last August in a Manhattan jail, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges for abusing women and girls in Manhattan and Florida from 2002 to 2005. He had also pleaded not guilty.