U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan
is set to preside over the arraignment of Maxwell, who
prosecutors accused of helping Epstein recruit and eventually
abuse girls from 1994 to 1997, and lying about her role in
depositions in 2016.
Maxwell, 58, is expected to plead not guilty to six criminal
charges, including four related to transporting minors for
illegal sexual acts, and two for perjury.
She has been held since July 6 at the Metropolitan Detention
Center, a Brooklyn jail, and is expected to appear by video
conference at the arraignment, scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT (1700
GMT).
Maxwell was arrested on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire, where
authorities said she was hiding out at a 156-acre (63 hectares)
property she bought last December in an all-cash transaction.
Her lawyers on Friday proposed a bail package including a $5
million bond, secured by six co-signers and $3.75 million of
property in Britain, and home confinement with electronic
monitoring.
They said Maxwell has always denied involvement in illegal
conduct related to Epstein, and that bail was justified because
she might contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel
coronavirus, in the Brooklyn jail.
Prosecutors on Monday called Maxwell an "extreme" flight risk
reflecting her wealth, multiple citizenships - American, French
and British - and prior success in evading capture, and said she
should remain detained.
Maxwell's lawyers have previewed her possible defenses.
These include that her alleged misconduct occurred long ago and
would be hard to prosecute, and that she was shielded by
Epstein's 2007 plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Miami,
which covered "any potential co-conspirators."
Epstein was charged last July with sexually exploiting dozens of
girls and women from 2002 to 2005 at his homes in Manhattan and
Palm Beach, Florida. He hanged himself last Aug. 10 at age 66 in
a Manhattan jail.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Will Dunham)
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