Feds refuse to offer Ghislaine Maxwell a plea deal as judge says witnesses can remain anonymous
By Elizabeth Rosner, Lee Brown and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
November 1, 2021 | 1:15pm
Manhattan prosecutors have refused to offer Ghislaine Maxwell any kind of plea deal — and the judge in her explosive sex-trafficking case is playing hardball with her, too.
The feds revealed in court Monday that they have not offered Jeffrey Epstein’s 59-year-old accused madam a deal before her upcoming trial.
Federal Judge Alison Nathan also delivered a blow to the fallen British socialite — who was led into court in shackles Monday. Nathan ruled that prosecutors can refer to Maxwell’s accusers as “minors” and “victims and that the women can use pseudonyms when they testify at her trial later this month.
Maxwell appeared in Manhattan federal court, also wearing a blue prison uniform and white mask, for the final motions hearing before her trial is scheduled to start Nov. 29.
She watched as the judge dismissed many of the proposed last-minute restrictions her legal team sought for her trial. Maxwell is accused of acquiring girls and women for the late wealthy pedophile Epstein to abuse.
Nathan denied Maxwell’s bid to “preclude reference to the accusers as ‘victims’ or ‘minor victims,’” arguing it would be both “impractical” and “unnecessary” given what the court will hear.
She also ruled to let the accusers testify using pseudonyms to prevent them from possible harassment.
Nathan highlighted the trial of perverted Nxivm cult leader Keith Raniere — who is serving 120 years behind bars — as one case where key evidence would not have emerged had his victims been forced to be identified.Maxwell’s team was also barred from using a non-prosecution agreement Epstein had reached when he was convicted in 2008 of sex offenses with underage girls in Florida.
The judge had previously ruled that the agreement did not shield Maxwell from her own charges.
Meanwhile, defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim continued to relay Maxwell’s gripes about her treatment in jail, complaining about her shoddy mail delivery and early wake-up calls for her court appearances.
“She was woken up at 3:45 a.m and brought here after 5,” Sternheim told the judge. “It was cold. She is given food without utensils. She is shackled.”Nathan asked what the lawyer wanted.
“That she be brought later,” Sternheim replied. “I’d like her released, but I’ll do that in writing. But she was woken up in the cell.
“She was brought here at 5:38 a.m.,” the lawyer said. “I’ve never seen this.”
Among those in court Monday was Maxwell’s sister, Isabel, who declined to comment to The Post.
The British media heiress — the daughter of late disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell — was also told her case could not push the idea that the government only went after her because of press coverage.“The court finds that this specific proffered evidence is irrelevant to the charged conduct and is therefore inadmissible,” Nathan ruled in the hearing.
Maxwell is accused of procuring women and underage girls for multimillionaire pedophile Epstein to abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s.
She has been held since her arrest in July 2020. She has pleaded not guilty.
Prospective jurors will fill out questionnaires later in the week and oral questioning will begin in mid-November.
Epstein hanged himself in his Manhattan lockup in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.