Ghislaine Maxwell Really Does Not Want to Be in Jail

Ghislaine Maxwell has been in jail since last July, and her trial on charges she aided in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking of minors won't begin until this July. That means she's got at least four months, if not more, to wait things out behind bars—a prospect that has the 59-year-old former socialite making yet another plea for bail, already twice rejected. Per ABC News, Maxwell's attorneys are trying to fight the perception she's a flight risk, this time with two suggested conditions to her release from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center: She'll give up her French and British citizenships, meaning it would be harder for her to flee to those countries; and she'll place her assets, and those of her husband, into an account that would be monitored by former federal officials. Those funds don't include about $7.6 million for her legal fees, as well as $450,000 for her husband's living costs.

"To deny Ms. Maxwell bail when such extraordinary and restrictive conditions are available would be a miscarriage of justice," defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim says. Maxwell's lawyers say the UK citizenship could be nixed ASAP, while the French citizenship might take a little longer but could be expedited, per the Guardian. It was during a previous bail bid—one in which her attorneys suggested she be sent home with armed guards to watch her—when prosecutors said they feared she'd flee overseas due to her various foreign citizenships, the BBC notes. Maxwell might have more than just a few months in jail to worry about: She could see up to 35 years behind bars if she's convicted in her July trial. (Maxwell's bail initiative has been going on for some time.)