Ghislaine Maxwell Denied Bail, Bursts Into Tears

Ghislaine Maxwell was denied bail at her court hearing on Tuesday and reported cried after being ordered that she stay locked up until her trial next summer. The alleged madame of the late Jeffrey Epstein pleaded not guilty to the sex trafficking charges she’s currently facing.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan denied Maxwell’s proposal of a $5 million bond co-signed by two of her sisters, which was backed up more than $3.75 million in property in the U.K., according to The Daily Mail. Her legal team had argued for her to confined to a “luxury hotel” in the greater New York area and that she would surrender all travel documents, as well as GPS monitoring. However, she was deemed a significant flight risk by the judge, citing her “substantial international” connections, as well as her “extraordinary financial resources.” Her trial date has been set, tentatively, for July 12, 2021.

Maxwell, a former girlfriend of Epstein’s, is accused of enticing minors to travel to engage in sexual acts, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual acts and perjury, according to the grand jury indictment. If found guilty, she faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty of the charges. She’s since returned to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Before her arrest by the FBI on July 2, Maxwell had attempted to flee, which likely contributed to Judge Nathan’s ruling. According to recently filed court documents via Insider, the agents saw Maxell through a window, where she proceeded to “ignore the direction to open the door and, instead, try to flee to another room in the house, quickly shutting another door behind her,” the document read, in part. Agents “were ultimately forced to breach the door” of Maxwell’s $1 million New Hampshire home. She’d also apparently wrapped her phone in tin foil to try and evade the authorities.

Epstein himself was arrested again on July 6, 2019, on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He was found dead in his jail cell just over a month later, which was ruled a suicide. Out of fear of a similar outcome, Maxwell herself has been issued paper clothes. She’d been held without bail since her initial arrest, which is likely to continue.