Appeals Court Denies Ghislaine Maxwell’s Fourth Bail Request
The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” needs a few more “tries” added to it in the mind of Ghislaine Maxwell, who has now failed in her fourth attempt to secure bail on charges of recruiting, grooming and sex trafficking. This time, a federal appeals court rejected her latest request and sent it back to the U.S. District Court for further review.
Her most recent appeal, denied in a four-sentence opinion on April 27 just one day after oral argument, alleged unfair treatment as well as lack of adequate access to the materials she needs to prepare for her trial that is scheduled for July 12. The three-judge panel merely wrote that the District’s orders be affirmed while denying Maxwell’s latest “motion for bail, or in the alternative, temporary pretrial release.”
During oral argument, her attorney said that Maxwell, 59, was “improperly being deprived of sleep while incarcerated.” The appellate panel ruled that their request “could be addressed by the District Court.” Maxwell’s unfair treatment argument stems from the constant monitoring she is receiving at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. The pervasive surveillance is due to concerns that she might follow in Jeffrey Epstein’s footsteps with her own suicide attempt. Maxwell’s lawyer asserted this “overreaction” by prison guards is interrupting her sleep all night long.
Her second failed argument, that she lacked access to the materials she needs to prepare for trial, was not addressed by the appeals court. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office earlier argued that she gets more access to computers than any of her fellow inmates.
The appellate court’s decision comes just four days after Maxwell’s first appearance before U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan, who is scheduled to preside over her trial on both of her sex trafficking charges, the latest of which was added in a written indictment on March 29 by a Manhattan grand jury. On that day, her lawyers asked that the trial be delayed, but prosecutors argued this was not necessary because the new charges merely added another victim--a 14-year-old girl.
The superseding indictment supplements claims that Maxwell recruited at least three teenagers between 1994 and 1997. The young girls then became part of a sex trafficking ring run by Epstein for himself as well as his rich and famous companions.
According to The Washington Post, new crimes occurred between 2000 and 2004 when Epstein and Maxwell paid the new, young accuser “hundreds of dollars in cash for each encounter.” They also allege that Maxwell “encouraged her to recruit other girls to engage in paid sex acts with Epstein, which she did.”
One of the attorneys for a different alleged victim told the Post, “I think it’s certainly an important addition to the case because of the age of the victim and the length of time she was trafficked.” On the other side, Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine’s brother, issued a statement saying, “The government has admitted how weak its indictment is. So it has added another anonymous accuser from 20 years ago. That does not strengthen the government’s case.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York isn’t done yet. They continue to look for additional victims. Its website states, “If you believe you were a victim of Ghislaine Maxwell or have information about the allegations in the Indictment, please call 1-800-Call-FBI.”
A British socialite and one-time girlfriend of Epstein’s, Maxwell was arrested last July on charges of recruiting three teen-aged girls for Epstein’s sexual pleasure. After her arrest, she was denied bail but requested it again in both December and February. At her initial July bail hearing, she pledged $22.5 million in assets plus millions more from family and friends. She also cited her marriage to a U.S. citizen as evidence of her strong ties to this country. At her December bail hearing, her attorneys said that if given bail, she would stay in her Manhattan residence with electronic monitoring and under 24-hour guard. In February, she offered to renounce her non-U.S. citizenships and move most of her assets into an account that would be overseen by a federal judge.
All of Judge Nathan’s three bail denials cite evidence of Maxwell’s foreign ties and abundant resources. “The Defendant continues to have substantial international ties, familial and personal connections abroad, substantial financial resources, and experience evading detection,” Nathan wrote.
Maxwell now faces a total of eight counts, including perjury for lying during depositions in a defamation lawsuit initiated by another Epstein accuser. The defense is arguing that Maxwell should never have been charged because a 2007 plea deal between Epstein and the government supposedly gave immunity to all his potential co-conspirators.
If convicted, Maxwell could face up to 80 years in prison.
