Jeffrey Epstein's former partner, associate, and enabler Ghislaine Maxwell was placed on suicide watch over the weekend by officials at the Brooklyn jail in which she's currently incarcerated while awaiting her sentencing that was scheduled for Tuesday.
The enhanced monitoring comes after Maxwell claimed that staff at the facility were threatening her, and she claims she's not actually suicidal, according to Reuters:
In court filings on Saturday, Maxwell's lawyers said she was placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) and asked for a delay to her sentencing. On Sunday, prosecutors argued no delay was needed because Maxwell had her legal documents and could get the same amount of sleep.
They said Maxwell was transferred after reporting threats to her safety by MDC staff to the federal Bureau of Prisons' inspector general.
Maxwell refused to elaborate about why she feared for her safety, prosecutors said. She told psychology staff she was not suicidal.
Maxwell's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bureau of Prisons said it does not comment on any particular inmate's confinement conditions.
Prosecutors said the jail's warden will oversee an investigation.
According to The New York Post, Maxwell's attorney Bobby Sternheim wrote to the judge, saying:
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."
The report added that "[a]s part of her suicide watch, her regular clothes, toothpaste, soap and papers were taken away."
Epstein infamously died while awaiting trial in custody at a Manhattan jail in 2019 — by suicide, officially — after being placed on and then removed from suicide watch while guards slept through their watches and two security cameras malfunctioned and failed to record events the night Epstein died.
Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 for her role helping Epstein traffic and abuse young women and girls for more than a decade. While she'll learn her sentence on Tuesday, prosecutors have called for 60-year-old Maxwell to receive 30 to 55 years in prison.
The parallel story lines between Epstein and Maxwell's incarceration were not lost on Twitter:
https://t.co/g9kAWBxLu9 pic.twitter.com/sVV0GzSD6z
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 26, 2022