Ghislaine Maxwell ‘has lost hair and 15 pounds in weight’ in prison says lawyer

Ghislaine Maxwell speaks at a news conference at the United Nations in New York
Ghislaine Maxwell is facing trial next summer
via REUTERS
Michael Howie8 December 2020

Ghislaine Maxwell has lost hair and 15 pounds in weight because of the onerous conditions imposed on her in a New York prison, her lawyer has claimed.

Maxwell has been held since July on charges she procured girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse in the Nineties. She has pleaded not guilty.

Bobbi Sternheim made the claims on Maxwell’s behalf after lawyers for the Metropolitan Detention Centre warden in Brooklyn defended conditions at the facility.

In a letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan, Ms Sternheim said Maxwell, 58, has lost hair and over 15 pounds while she has been detained.

She claimed Maxwell was being treated harshly in part because the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) wants to repair its reputation after failing to prevent the August 2019 suicide of Epstein in a Manhattan federal jail as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

She cited recent comments that Attorney General William Barr made to ABC News when he said he was keeping a close watch to make sure Maxwell makes it to trial after Epstein's death. 

The Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held ahead of her trial
AP

"It is obvious that Ms Maxwell is bearing the brunt of BOP incompetence," Ms Sternheim wrote.

"The Department of Justice is seeking to repair the BOP's tarnished reputation by placing Ms Maxwell under extraordinarily harsh conditions, not in any response to Ms Maxwell's requirements, but rather in response to the failed handling of a completely different inmate."

Last month Ms Sternheim told the judge Maxwell was being awakened by flashlight every 15 minutes at night to ensure she was still breathing.

In her latest plea to the judge, the lawyer maintained her client has not been properly protected from an outbreak of the coronavirus, has been subjected to repeated unnecessary searches, has had her legal emails erased and has not always received the vegetarian diet she has requested.

"The conditions under which she is detained are punitive, unwarranted, deleteriously impacting her ability to prepare her defense, and interfering with counsel's ability to provide the legal representation to which she, and any other detainee, deserves," Ms Sternheim said. 

In their letter to the judge, prison lawyers wrote that Maxwell's weight has not fluctuated more than two pounds from her current weight of 134.

They said her diet needs have been addressed and other conditions are standard to maintain "a safe and secure environment" for inmates.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in