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U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan
said federal prosecutors persuaded her that Maxwell "poses a
flight risk" despite her proposed $28.5 million bail package,
and should remain jailed because "no conditions of release"
reasonably assured she would appear in court.
Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for
comment. A spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in
Manhattan declined to comment.
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit
and groom girls as young as 14 years old for sex in the
mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for denying her involvement
under oath.
She has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in
Brooklyn following her July 2 arrest at her New Hampshire home,
where prosecutors said she was hiding out.
The proposed bail package included $22.5 million posted by
Maxwell and her husband, as well as home confinement with
electronic monitoring and 24-hour guard to ensure Maxwell
remained safe and would not escape.
Maxwell said she wanted to stay in New York to clear her name,
while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive
searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke
her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.
But Nathan, who rejected a $5 million bail package for Maxwell
in July, said none of the new arguments had a "material bearing"
on whether Maxwell was a flight risk.
In opposing bail, prosecutors cited Maxwell's abilities to hide
her wealth and evade capture, and the prospect she might flee to
France or the United Kingdom, where she holds citizenships and
they said she might elude extradition.
Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. Her trial
is scheduled for July 12, 2021.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019
while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr criticized errors by
jail personnel that he said contributed to Epstein's death.
Nathan described her "bottom line" conclusions in a two-page
order. A longer opinion explaining her reasoning will be filed
after lawyers for Maxwell and the government propose redactions
to account for potentially confidential information.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie
Adler and Richard Chang)
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