How Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘wife’ Ghislaine Maxwell is handling her arrest

Now that Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife”, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been arrested, there’s no doubt that her legal team is scrambling to get their defense together. Maxwell is currently being detained in a Merrimack County Jail in New Hampshire, which is a medium-security facility just 20 miles from where she was arrested on Thursday. Maxwell is due to be transported to New York for a court appearance later this week.

Where is Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” locked up for now?

Defense lawyers have speculated that Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” is isolated in her own holding cell, with constant observation from the guards, but the assigned jail attendant has declined to comment on Maxwell’s conditions. Merrimack County Jail is known to be a well run jail with much better conditions than most other jails and is likely much nicer than the jail Maxwell will be transported to in New York. 

What’s Merrimack County Jail like for Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife”

The normal procedure when an inmate is received at Merrimack County Jail is to keep them in the booking area for a few days so that the inmate can have psychological & risk assessments done. After the assessments are complete, the inmate is transferred to the general population of the prison. It’s unlikely that Maxwell will ever move from the booking area before she’s shipped out.

The Merrimack County Jail also seems to be relatively free of the coronavirus. In March there were 170 inmates and 115 staff members, of which only one staff member tested positive for the virus. The facility has a good reputation for being safe & professional, which should give Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” a comfortable transition into imprisonment. 

Has Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” been worried about this day?

A former business associate of Epstein’s, Steven Hoffenberg, said that Ghislaine Maxwell was shocked by her arrest. Maxwell thought she’d be protected by the intelligence communities that she and Epstein supposedly provided information for. Maxwell had continued to take international flights at least 15 different times in the past 3 years, possibly showing a lack of concern for her situation. 

How is Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” going to get out of this? 

It’s still not clear what Epstein’s “wife” will do once her defense has been organized. It’s been assumed that Maxwell will eventually start spewing out names like a possessed Furby, as the list of high-profile individuals linked to Epstein continues to grow. There’s speculation that Maxwell might not just name people who abused underaged girls, but also those who benefited from Epstein’s fortune.

A possible defense strategy that Ghislaine Maxwell might use is to find protection under an agreement that Epstein signed after an arrest in 2008. The agreement was signed in the district of Florida and guaranteed that criminal charges would not be brought “against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein”. Four women are listed in the agreement, but it states that it is not only limited to them.

Since Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” is being tried as a co-conspirator, she would fall under the protection of the agreement that Epstein signed in 2008, even if she wasn’t among the four women listed. What’s contentious is that since this agreement was signed in Florida, it may not apply in other states. 

What are prosecutors doing to make sure Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” doesn’t get away?

Prosecutors have started to build a case of charges against Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife” for crimes that occurred in the 1990’s. This would place Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife’s” crimes outside of the timeframe of victims affected by the 2008 plea deal, and allow them to continue the trial even if the agreement is valid. 

With what eventually happened to Epstein, it’s unlikely that the prosecutors will go easy on Jeffrey Epstein’s “wife”. Attorney General William Barr has warned that “the case will continue on against anyone who was complicit” and that any other co-conspirators should not rest easy. Lucky for William Barr, Epstein’s “wife” is probably having enough trouble sleeping with the guards staring at her all night long.