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A LAWYER FOR Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, has said her client faces more restrictive conditions in a New York City federal prison than inmates convicted of terrorism or murder.
Bobbi Sternheim told a Manhattan judge that Maxwell wakes up every 15 minutes to make sure she is breathing, even though the 48-year-old has no history of mental health problems or suicidal ideation or a criminal record.
Sternheim asked a judge to intervene on his client’s behalf to improve his conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
In his request, Sternheim made no direct reference to Epstein taking his own life in August 2019 in his cell at a federal prison in Manhattan.
US District Judge Alison J. Nathan directed defense attorneys and prosecutors to consult over the next week on Sternheim’s request that the director of the Brooklyn facility address the concerns directly.
A spokesman for prosecutors declined to comment and a message was sent to the press office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the charges of having hired three girls for Epstein to abuse them in the mid-1990s. She has been held without bail while preparing for a trial in July.
On Monday, prosecutors notified the judge that Maxwell was quarantined last week for 14 days after someone working in his jail area tested positive for the coronavirus. You cannot meet with your defense team during that period.
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In their letter, prosecutors said the 13 hours a day Maxwell has to review trial materials on a laptop is more time than any other prisoner is allocated.
The reference upset Sternheim, who said Maxwell faces unmatched burdens for other inmates and has been mistreated.
He noted that the last production of evidence by prosecutors was more than a million documents and Maxwell did not have enough time to study the material.
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