No plea deal for Ghislaine Maxwell ahead of trial next week
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday said they’re still not offering Ghislaine Maxwell a plea deal, paving the way for her long-anticipated sex-trafficking trial to begin next week.
At Maxwell’s final pretrial hearing in the Manhattan courtroom where she’ll face a jury Monday, Judge Alison Nathan asked prosecutors and her defense attorneys if a plea deal had been offered.
“None were communicated,” Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey responded.
Maxwell visited the courtroom on Tuesday and exchanged greetings to her team of attorneys. She also sipped from a disposable coffee mug as her legal teams worked out logistics for the trial with four prosecutors.
Among the issues raised was that Maxwell’s attorneys have subpoenaed a lawyer who represents a victim in the case, identified in the indictment against Maxwell as “Minor Victim-4.”
Nathan ordered Maxwell’s attorneys to submit briefs about the potential witness — and said she would not allow the testimony until she has reviewed the briefing.
According to the indictment, Maxwell met the victim when she was 14 years old at Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion sometime around 2001.
She then “groomed” the teen by discussing sexual topics in front of her and being present when the teen was naked in the massage room of Epstein’s house, prosecutors charged.
The indictment also states that Maxwell helped to arrange for Epstein’s sexualized massages and sent Maxwell teen lingerie.
Her attorneys did not discuss why they want the victim’s lawyer to testify at the trial.
After more than one year of preparation, the trial will begin with opening statements Monday.
Six charges were filed against Maxwell for allegedly procuring minor girls to Epstein’s abuse between 1994 and 2004.
She’s pleaded not guilty and has remained in a Brooklyn federal lockup since her arrest in 2020.
In 2019, Epstein was arrested for sex-trafficking and committed suicide inside a Lower Manhattan jail cell.