Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers argue the longtime Jeffrey Epstein confidant should be released from jail on bail while she awaits her trial, NBC News reports.
In addition to coronavirus concerns, Maxwell's attorneys also said they plan to fight the charges against her based on the government's 2007 nonprosecution agreement with Epstein, which covers "any potential co-conspirators of Epstein."
"Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein," her attorneys wrote. "She was not named in the government's indictment of Epstein in 2019, despite the fact that the government has been investigating this case for years. Instead, the current indictment is based on allegations of conduct that allegedly occurred roughly twenty-five years ago. Ms. Maxwell vigorously denies the charges, intends to fight them, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence."
On Friday, her lawyers filed court records citing the coronavirus as one of the reasons Maxwell should be released from jail and placed under home confinement.
The request states she would be free on a $5 million bond secured by six co-signers and property in the U.K. worth $3.75 million.
"The circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic will greatly increase her personal risk and prevent her from meaningfully participating in her defense," wrote her lawyers, Mark Cohen and Jeffrey Pagliuca.
Maxwell has been in a federal detention facility in New York since her arrest last week. She was booked on charges related to Epstein's alleged sex trafficking network. She was charged in a six-count indictment alleging that she enticed minors to engage in illegal sex acts with Epstein in the mid-1990s. Her arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.
Her lawyers' request comes days after New York federal prosecutors asked a judge to keep her in federal custody until her trial. They argued she is an "extreme" flight risk.
"Maxwell has three passports, large sums of money, extensive international connections, and absolutely no reason to stay in the United States and face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence," the prosecutors stated in court papers.
Prosecutors claim Maxwell was in hiding for a year and made "intentional efforts to avoid detection," including moving twice and changing her phone number and email address.
But her lawyers said she switched her information to protect herself and her family from "unrelenting and intrusive media coverage."
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