By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK – After each day of her upcoming sex assault trial ends, Ghislaine Maxill will leave Manhattan Federal Court. She will then return to Brooklyn’s jail cell where she said it is plagued and smelt of raw sewage.

Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 on allegations of sexual abuse and grooming for Jeffrey Epstein, the now deceased financier. She has been kept in isolation at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC). According to defense lawyers, Maxwell is being held there because her conditions are not up to par.

Maxwell claimed that raw sewage seeped in to her cell and that her guards used flashlights to target her at night. Court filings reveal that. Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell’s attorney, said that her cell was like Hannibal Lecter’s. This is a stark contrast to Maxwell’s life before arrest.

Maxwell pointed out the prison conditions for three of her four bail request, which she was denied by Alison Nathan, U.S. district judge. Nathan called Maxwell an “flight risk”. These denials were upheld twice on appeal.

Maxwell has pleaded guilty to six charges of sextrafficking and other criminal offenses. The jury selection process is under way, and opening statements are scheduled for November 29.

After Epstein, aged 66 and committed suicide in 2019, Maxwell was kept under close surveillance by his guardians at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Two security guards were charged with monitoring Epstein and allegedly surfing the internet, taking naps, manipulating documents to give it the appearance they were looking at him. Two guards who were responsible for monitoring Epstein admitted to falsifying records, but they avoided prison time.

Prosecutors claim that Maxwell’s surveillance is necessary due to security issues, that Maxwell is physically healthy and that Maxwell has more time to examine evidence than the other inmates.

Still, Sternheim called Maxwell’s detention “overly-restrictive.”

Sternheim stated in Nov. 9 that her confinement conditions “significantly impeded her ability to prepare to trial, negatively affected her health and compromised her endurance to the rigors associated with trial.”

The spokesperson for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on Maxwell’s circumstances, however stated that it is committed to safety of inmates and will investigate allegations of misconduct by staff.

The U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York refused to comment.

TRUBBLED HISTORY

Maxwell’s worries are part of an ongoing history of complaints regarding conditions at MDC. The MDC opened its doors in 1994, and currently holds 1,676 prisoners.

Joshua Schulte is a former CIA worker who was detained by MDC for leaking classified information. He stated in a court file last week that he will start a hunger strike to draw attention to the “torturous” conditions at MDC, which include sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme cold, and other abuses. Schulte has not pleaded guilty.

Reuters was told by several defense attorneys that MDC has poor medical, utility, recreational, and educational programs.

David Patton (executive director, attorney-in-chief of Federal Defenders of New York) said that “it’s a miserable spot to do time.”

Early 2019, MDC was struck by an electric fire, resulting in a prolonged power outage for over a week. This caused legal visits to be suspended. That cold winter week saw many prisoners without heat. Katie Rosenfeld (a partner at ECBAWM LLP) said that power outages are still frequent.

Rosenfeld stated that “they can’t even maintain basic utilities running.”

Maxwell first reported the sewage leakage in July, but six weeks later an MDC-inmate was charged with taking a bank. He said the toilet had been unlocked for three days in his cell.

U.S. district Judge William Kuntz declared, July 27, that “I don’t care whether the defendant Jack the Ripper is, but we treat people under care with respect, decency.” Kuntz was speaking at a July 27 hearing regarding the toilet. The prosecutor stated it had been fixed before the hearing. This is an ongoing scandal.”