Ghislaine Maxwell set to appear in Manhattan federal court today
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges she conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse girls more than two decades ago — and will also learn whether she’ll be sprung from jail pending the outcome of her trial.
Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan will decide whether to set bail for the British socialite or leave her locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors want Maxwell, 58, remanded, calling her an “extreme” flight risk with more than $20 million in the bank and three passports.
In a filing Monday, they said Maxwell went to great lengths to avoid detection by authorities — including wrapping a cellphone in foil while hiding out at a 156-acre New Hampshire mansion, where she was busted on July 2.
The court is also expected to hear on Tuesday from some of Maxwell and Epstein’s alleged victims, who will also argue that the alleged madam should remain behind bars.
Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison on a six-count indictment charging her with recruiting and grooming young women and girls to be sexually abused by Epstein — her ex-lover — from at least 1994 through 1997. Prosecutors contend that she partook in some of the sexual abuse.
She is also charged with two counts of perjury for allegedly lying under oath during a 2016 deposition by saying she had no idea about Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Maxwell’s lawyers are arguing for bail, saying she went into hiding for a year following Epstein’s arrest to avoid the “intrusive” media.
The notoriously elusive heir to disgraced newspaper baron Robert Maxwell will appear for the 1 p.m. hearing in Manhattan federal court via video, along with her lawyer, a prosecutor and the judge. Members of the press and public can access the proceeding via teleconference.
Former prosecutors told The Post that it’s possible the judge could set bail for Maxwell, or place her on home confinement, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Maxwell’s arrest came nearly a year to the day that Epstein, 66, was busted on federal sex-trafficking charges. The convicted pedophile killed himself weeks later while locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.