Ghislaine Maxwell has reportedly been placed on suicide watch ahead of sentencing for her part in Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex-trafficking ring. The 60-year-old was found guilty on five counts relating to recruiting and trafficking teenage girls to be sexually abused in December 2021 and could face up to 55 years behind bars when Judge Alison Nathan hands down her sentence on Tuesday, June 28.
- Maxwell’s crimes are horrific. The jury convicted her of conspiracy to entice and transport individuals under 17 with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity, plus sex trafficking of individuals under the age of 17 and 18. The only charge she was not convicted on was “Enticement of an Individual Under the Age of 17 (Jane only) to Travel with Intent to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity.”
- Prosecutors have recommended a minimum of 30 years in prison for Maxwell. However, Maxwell’s own lawyers have argued that she should be handed a more lenient sentence as she was a victim of an “angry and aggressive” father herself.
- Maxwell’s attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, says her client is now on suicide watch. She wrote a letter to the judge stating that her client is “unable to properly prepare for sentencing” while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she was placed on Friday, June 24.
- This seems to be a plan to somehow delay sentencing. As Sternheim wrote, she believes that being on suicide watch is prohibiting Maxwell to go through legal materials and is keeping her from resting well, which should be enough to adjourn sentencing. “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,” she wrote.
- However, she claims Maxwell is “not suicidal.” Regardless of the truth, it seems unlikely the judge would agree to postpone the inevitable, especially given that Maxwell has already been convicted. Time will tell!
