Ghislaine Maxwell Has Just Been Placed on ‘Suicide Watch’ As Sentencing For Sex Crimes Looms

Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of sex trafficking along ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, is on suicide watch in Brooklyn, her lawyer said Saturday.

A letter written by Maxwell’s attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, which was sent to the judge who is scheduled to hand down the socialite’s sentence on June 28th, stated that the socialite had been removed from the general population of inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and placed in solitary confinement.

According to Bloomberg, Sternheim said that Maxwell is not permitted to have any pens or paper and that she was put on the watch “without justification.” Additionally, her lawyer warned that she may request a delay of the day on which she is scheduled to be sentenced.

“If Ms. Maxwell remains on suicide watch, is prohibited from reviewing legal materials prior to sentencing, becomes sleep deprived, and is denied sufficient time to meet with and confer with counsel, we will be formally moving on Monday for an adjournment,”  Sternheim said in a letter that was sent late Saturday to the United States Circuit Judge who is presiding over the case.

Sternheim stated that a psychologist visited with the socialite on Saturday and came to the conclusion that she “is not suicidal,” despite the fact that Maxwell, who is 60 years old, was given a “suicide smock.”

In December, a federal jury in Manhattan found Maxwell guilty on five of six charges against her, the most serious of which was the trafficking of a child for sexual purposes.

The decision was greeted as long-delayed justice for victims of Epstein, who was discovered dead in his prison cell a month after his arrest in what officials claimed was a “suicide”.

Twitter erupted in all sorts of theories about the news:

The prosecution believes that Maxwell should serve a prison sentence of at least 55 years for her role in a sex trafficking conspiracy that included seven different victims. She has argued that she has been forced to suffer unnecessarily severe circumstances in jail and has requested a prison term that is less than six years long.

Nicholas Biase, who works as a spokesperson for Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the office that is in charge of the prosecution of Maxwell, declined to comment on Sternheim’s letter.

Read more on our Ghislaine Maxwell coverage here.