Ex-Epstein pal seeks $28.5M bail with armed guards

Larry Neumeister/AP

Updated: Dec 15, 2020 / 03:01 AM CST

FILE – In this July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference, in New York. Transcripts released Thursday show the ex-girlfriend of financier Jeffrey Epstein was combative and defensive under tough questioning four years ago about her ex-boyfriend’s interactions with underage girls. Ghislaine Maxwell said she “never saw any inappropriate underage activities with Jeffrey ever.” (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein are urging a judge to free her to await trial under a $28.5 million bail package that would include armed guards to keep her in a New York City residence.

The bail arguments on behalf of Ghislaine Maxwell were filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell is scheduled to face a July trial on charges that she recruited three teenage girls for Epstein to abuse in the mid-1990s.

Her first attempt at bail shortly after her July arrest was rejected. Her lawyers say she wants nothing more than to remain in the United States and fight the charges. They say the case depends on uncorroborated testimony of a handful of witnesses about events over 25 years ago.