Ghislaine Maxwell Breaks Down in Tears as Judge Drops the Hammer: 'Bail Denied'
Court denies $5 million bail bond, keeping Epstein accomplice jailed until July 2021 trial
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Jeffrey Epstein's alleged child sex trafficking accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly broke down in tears when a judge denied her bail during a Tuesday hearing.
The court rejected requests from Maxwell's legal team to set bail at $5 million and allow her to live in a luxury New York hotel while she awaits her trial.
The judge denied the request due to Maxwell's "substantial international" ties and "extraordinary financial resources" making her a flight risk.
Maxwell must now remain in jail until her trial, which the court had earlier scheduled for July 2021.
Maxwell cried as she learned she must stay locked up until her trial next summer after pleading not guilty to the sex trafficking charges brought against her.
Appearing via video link, the 58-year-old wiped tears away and hung her head as she learned her fate, wearing a prison-issued brown paper clothing - to prevent her from killing herself.
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U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan denied Maxwell's proposal of a $5 million bond co-signed by two of her sisters and backed up by more than $3.75 million in property in the UK, according to reports.
Maxwell's legal team had argued she would be confined to a "luxury hotel" in the New York area, surrender all her travel documents and be subject to GPS monitoring.
But Judge Nathan ruled the British socialite was a significant flight risk, setting an anticipated trial date for July 12, 2021.
Maxwell is accused of grooming girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 1997, a period when she was his girlfriend.
She faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty of the charges, as prosecutors successfully argued that along with her three passports, connections to some of the world's most powerful people and her own fortune of more than $10 million - Maxwell had every incentive to try and flee.
Maxwell will now return to the fortress-like Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where she has been given paper clothes to ensure she doesn't kill herself.
Maxwell is being closely watched as the Department of Justice wants to ensure she does not die in jail like Epstein, who was found dead in his cell last August while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
During the two hours and 20 minute hearing at Manhattan’s Federal Court, Maxwell appeared via video from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The small room she was in had white walls, a white bed, a window with frosted glass, and a door at the back.
She was wearing a dark brown prison-issued top and her dark hair was far longer than in the past - she reportedly has not had a haircut in a year - and was swept behind her head in a bun.
At the start of the hearing, Maxwell rested her elbows on a table in front of the camera and put her head on her hands.
She appeared nervous and pensive and kept looking from side to side, as she leaned into the camera.
Maxwell briefly spoke and only to confirm she could hear the judge and to enter her plea by saying: "Not guilty, your honor."
Her demeanor changed when prosecutor Alison Moe began outlining the allegations against her, sitting back in her chair and bowing her head when Moe accused her of "sexual abuse of minors."
With every allegation, Maxwell either scratched her face or moved her hair, but was emotionless as victim impact statements were read aloud.
It wasn’t until Judge Nathan started reading her decision that Maxwell finally broke down.
She began moving uneasily in her chair as the judge said the evidence against her was "strong."
When Judge Nathan said a "combination of factors" showed she had the "motive and opportunity" to flee before her trial, Maxwell wiped a tear away.
The second tear fell as the judge said Maxwell was "sophisticated at hiding her financial resources."
For the rest of the decision, Maxwell rested her head in her hands as she had done at the start of the hearing.
Maxwell sat though prosecutors detailing how she was "skilled at living in hiding" and as two victims argued she was a flight risk, with one writing: "Without Ghislaine, Jeffrey couldn't have done what he did.
"She is a predator and a monster."
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Prosecutor Moe also read out a victim impact statement from a woman identified as Jane Doe, who also made the case that Maxwell was a flight risk.
The victim said she knew Maxwell for 10 years and the socialite intended to "deliver" her to Epstein, all the while knowing the "heinous dehumanization that awaited me."
The woman claimed Maxwell "was in charge" and "egged" Epstein on.
She described Maxwell as "sociopathic" and said she would "have done anything to get what she wanted - to satisfy Jeffrey Epstein."
Prosecutors will likely be looking to do a plea deal with Maxwell to lighten some of the six charges against her, two of which are perjury for allegedly lying during depositions.
They will be questioning her about powerful men in Epstein's orbit including Bill Clinton with whom she flew on Epstein's private jet, called the "Lolita Express," on a tour of Africa in 2002.
Maxwell was also good friends with Prince Andrew, whom one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts, claims she was trafficked to and raped three times when she was 17.
