Ghislaine Maxwell on suicide watch; lawyer says, may delay sentencing

Photo: The New Arab

Ghislaine Maxwell has been placed on suicide watch in a Brooklyn jail and may attempt to delay her sentencing on Tuesday for assisting Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of minor children, according to her attorney on Saturday night.

Maxwell's attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, stated in a letter to the judge supervising his case that her client is "unable to properly prepare, for sentencing," after officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center declared a suicide watch and ordered Maxwell to solitary confinement on Friday.

Sternheim stated that Maxwell was provided with a "suicide smock," and her clothing, toothpaste, soap, and legal documents were confiscated.

A psychologist who evaluated the 60-year-old British socialite on Saturday morning, according to the attorney, reached the same conclusion that Maxwell "is not suicidal,"

Sternheim said, "If Ms. Maxwell remains on suicide watch, is prohibited from reviewing legal materials prior to sentencing, becomes sleep deprived, and is denied sufficient time to meet with and confer with counsel, we will be formally moving on Monday for an adjournment,"

The spokesman for Manhattan United States Attorney Damian Williams, whose office prosecuted Maxwell, declined to comment.

Epstein, 66, committed suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking.


Maxwell was found guilty on five criminal counts, including sex trafficking, on December 29 for recruiting and grooming four females for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

According to prosecutors, Maxwell should serve at least 30 years in prison due to her "utter lack of remorse." Maxwell desires a shorter term than twenty years.

U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan will punish in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell has been incarcerated in the Brooklyn jail since her arrest in July 2020.

Multiple times before trial, her attorneys complained about the confinement circumstances, including in November, when Sternheim compared them to Hannibal Lecter's in the 1991 Oscar-winning picture "The Silence of the Lambs."

Publish : 2022-06-26 09:01:00

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