Gislane Maxwell said Brooklyn prison officials threatened her safety, prompting officers to remand her in custody for suicide, prosecutors said Sunday, saying there was no need to postpone her sentence on sexual trafficking charges.
Maxwell, 60, is due to be convicted on Tuesday of her December sentence for helping her then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender who abused girls between 1994 and 2004. Prosecutors say she deserves between 30 and 55 years in prison.
In court documents Saturday, Maxwell’s lawyers said she had been placed under surveillance for suicide at the capital’s detention center (MDC) and demanded that her sentence be postponed. Prosecutors said on Sunday that no delay was needed because Maxwell had her legal documents and can sleep the same amount.
They said Maxwell had been relocated after reporting threats to her safety by MDC officials to the Inspector General of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Maxwell declined to explain why he feared for his safety, prosecutors said. She told psychology staff she was not suicidal.
Maxwell’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The prison bureau said it did not comment on the conditions of detention of any prisoners.
Prosecutors said the warden would oversee the investigation.
“Given the inconsistent reports of the defendant to the (Chief Inspector) and the psychological staff, the Chief Psychologist estimates that the accused is at additional risk of self-harm, as it appears that he may be trying to be moved to a cell where he may are involved in self-harm, “prosecutors said in a court case.
Epstein committed suicide in 2019 in a prison cell in Manhattan while awaiting trial.
The verdict will be imposed by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan Federal Court. Maxwell has been wanting less than 20 years, claiming to be a scapegoat for Epstein’s crimes.
(Report by Luke Cohen in New York; edited by Lisa Shoemaker)
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