Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly is preparing to propose a bail package of more than $28 million to secure her release from the Brooklyn prison where she is currently detained before the end of the year.
The majority of that sum, more than $22 million, will come from Maxwell and her husband, according to ABC News. The remaining funds will be posted by “a handful of close family and friends.”
The planned bail request would be the first time Maxwell acknowledges being married. The accused conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein is being held at DMC Brooklyn, a federal detention center in New York, after being considered “an unacceptable flight risk.”
“She has three passports, large sums of money, extensive international connections, and absolutely no reason to stay in the United States to face a potential significant term of incarceration,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said.
Maxwell, 58, pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy and transporting minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and perjury.
Maxwell has complained about the conditions of the prison in a previous bail request, claiming that her treatment there was particularly restrictive, considering Epstein’s death in another Bureau of Prisons facility. Maxwell claimed that guards check on her every 15 minutes at night with a flashlight to make sure she’s still alive.
A lawyer for the Bureau of Prisons defended Maxwell’s treatment, saying that her treatment is “in accordance with BOP policy” concerning meals, exercise, and other practices. The lawyer added that correctional staff check on every inmate’s cell overnight “to ensure inmates are still breathing and not in distress.”
She was denied release on $5 million bond.
Maxwell’s legal team first signaled another bond attempt would be made in letters to the court identifying individuals who were offering to co-sign her bond.
“Ms. Maxwell and her counsel have assembled substantial information that was not available to present at the initial hearing [in July], as well as a comprehensive bail package co-signed by sureties who were unable to come forward at that time,” Maxwell attorney Christian Everdell wrote in November.
The identities of the individuals remain redacted over fears of the “same relentless media scrutiny and threats that Ms. Maxwell has experienced for more than a year,” according to Everdell.
Maxwell has requested a new hearing on her bail proposal for Dec. 21. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, before whom the bail request would appear, has ordered the government to respond to the proposal by next week. If Nathan grants a release, Maxwell could be released before Christmas.
