Since July, Ghislaine Maxwell has been at the federal facility on charges of sex-trafficking underage girls.
Attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Monday to direct the Bureau of Prisons to release their client from the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center into the general population, according to CNN.
Since July, Maxwell has been at the federal facility on charges of sex-trafficking underage girls. Her legal team says she has been "held under uniquely onerous" conditions in "reaction to the circumstances surrounding the pretrial detention and death of Mr. Epstein," according to court papers obtained by the Insider.
Some of the mistreatment that Maxwell’s attorneys say their client has endured, include 24-hour surveillance, numerous body scans, specific clothing she is forced to wear, and prison guards waking her up throughout the day.
"As a result of what occurred with Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell is being treated worse than other similarly situated pretrial detainees, which significantly impacts her ability to prepare a defense and be ready for trial on the schedule set by the Court," her lawyers told the judge.
Maxwell's attorneys ask that she have access to a computer to work on her defense and be able to better prepare for her upcoming trial. They also asked for New York federal prosecutors to disclose the identities of the three minor victims cited in the indictment against Maxwell so that she and her attorneys "can meaningfully investigate the alleged conduct,” according to CNN. Such a disclosure would be subject to the court's protective order, and therefore wouldn't be made public.
The judge instructed prosecutors to respond by tomorrow.
Maxwell was part of an alleged criminal scheme that went on for years with her former boyfriend and alleged accomplice, Jeffrey Epstein. She was the ring leader who recruited, groomed, and sexually abused girls as young as 14. Epstein died by apparent suicide while facing sex-trafficking charges last year.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and has been denied bail.
RELATED STORIES
