Prosecutors have asked a judge to
schedule a Friday court appearance in New York for Ghislaine
Maxwell, the former girlfriend and longtime associate of the
late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell was arrested on Thursday on US charges of luring
underage girls so that Epstein could sexually abuse them.
The FBI arrest of the British socialite was the latest twist
in the mystery of Epstein, who went from a high school math
teacher to a high-flying lifestyle of private Caribbean islands
and powerful connections that his victims say allowed him to
abuse minors with impunity.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire, where
she had been laying low since December, the FBI said last week.
In a letter on Sunday to Judge Alison Nathan at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, acting
United States Attorney Audrey Strauss said Maxwell's defense
lawyer, Christian Everdell, has requested a Friday, July 10,
bail hearing.
Maxwell is charged with four criminal counts related to
procuring and transporting minors for illegal sex acts and two
of perjury, according to the indictment by federal prosecutors
in New York.
Epstein was awaiting trial on federal charges of trafficking
minors between 2002 and 2005 when he was found hanged in an
apparent suicide while in a New York City jail in August. He was
66.
Previously, he pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of
solicitation of prostitution from a minor in a 2008 deal with
prosecutors that was widely criticized as too lenient.
Maxwell, the daughter of late British media magnate Robert
Maxwell, has kept a low profile since Epstein's death.
She was an Epstein ex-girlfriend who became a longtime
member of his inner circle. In a 2003 Vanity Fair article,
Epstein was quoted as saying Maxwell was his best friend.