Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges, Judge Denies Bail

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was arrested in early July, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assisting Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, as well as two counts of perjury involving previous testimony where she stated she had no knowledge of Epstein’s behavior towards minors, Bloomberg reports.

Maxwell, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, also argued to be released on $5 million bail, but prosecutors fear she is likely to flee and should be held until her trial date which was set for July 12, 2021. Lawyers for Maxwell said that she is willing to remain in New York under surveillance—at a luxury Manhattan hotel, according to Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown—but Federal Judge Alison Nathan deemed her a flight risk and denied bail, according to CNBC. The hearing further revealed the circumstances of Maxwell’s whereabouts before her arrest, including that Maxwell had purchased a $1 million New Hampshire estate under an assumed name. Per CNBC:

A federal prosecutor who argued against Maxwell’s bail request told Nathan that Maxwell posed as “Jen Marshall,” a “journalist” who was seeking privacy last November when was looked to purchase the New Hampshire house where she was found in her pyjamas and arrested by FBI agents on the morning of July 2.

Maxwell, according to a real estate agent involved in the purchase, posed as the wife of a man who identified himself as “Scott Marshall,” a purported retired member of the British military who was writing a book, the prosecutor Alison Moe said.

The $1 million house, which sits on more than 150 acres of land, later was bought by a legal entity set up for that purpose, and to hide the actual identity of the people who purchased the residence.

Moe told the court that the real estate agent realized “Jen Marshall” was Ghislaine Maxwell after seeing reports about her arrest, and argued that her assumed identity, as well as assets totaling up to $10 million, was proof that she should be detained until trial. Judge Nathan agreed, and set Maxwell’s court date for July 12, 2021.