MAXWELL IN BID TO CUT JAIL SENTENCE
Sex trafficker in plea over ‘harsh’ ordeal
SEX trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is demanding more time be deducted from her sentence because she does not like the tough conditions in jail.
In a sentencing memo to the judge, Maxwell’s lawyers wrote: “The difference between Ms Maxwell’s isolation and typical prison conditions is so pronounced that they differ not only in degree but in nature.
“This distinction demands a different calibration whereby each day spent in isolation... should result in an enhanced time-served credit.”
They also claim a high-ranking prison guard told Maxwell of concerns she would be “shot by sniper”.
Maxwell is on suicide watch and said to have been put in a “suicide smock” after she expressed fears that wardens were “threatening her safety”.
Her legal team has argued that if her jail conditions meant she was not able to prepare for tomorrow’s sentencing hearing, they would move to adjourn.
But government lawyers urged Judge Alison Nathan not to delay. The 60-yearold was found guilty of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Prosecutors insist she should get up to 55 years. Her sentence will be reduced by 22 months because of time on remand.
The former socialite argues that she should be jailed for just “51 to 63 months” overall because of the harsh conditions at New York’s tough Metropolitan Detention Center.
If Maxwell is sentenced to more than three years, she can apply to serve her remaining time in the UK after 36 months in US prison.