Ghislaine Maxwell (58), the former girlfriend and alleged “Madam” of Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in a shock and awe raid last week Thursday around 8:30am by more than 20 armed FBI agents and police at Maxwell’s 156 acre property located in Bedford, New Hampshire. Maxwell hid her ownership identity by acquiring the estate through an LLC entity for more than $1 million dollars. 

Maxwell is now in NY at the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until at least July 14 when she will be arraigned on 4 federal charges relating to sex trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, and 2 federal charges for perjury for lying under oath to federal prosecutors. Her lawyers will have a chance to draft a bail order for her release. According to reports , she is being watched closely by guards 24/7 under highest security and is not permitted to be alone at any time. To minimize her ability to commit suicide, she has been given paper clothes, paper bedsheets and she has a cellmate. The authorities are determined to keep Maxwell alive given that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly took his own life in prison not too far from where Maxwell is being held. According to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Epstein's suicide resulted from "a perfect storm of screw-ups" , including failed suicide attempt, failed suicide prevention protocols, failure of inmate count protocols, cameras that failed to record, guards that fell asleep on the job and were not making required monitoring rounds, submission to the court of the wrong video footage, and a second autopsy report that contradicted the official declaration of suicide by hanging.  

Maxwell is accused of having recruited and groomed (and at times coerced) underaged girls as young as 14 years old to perform sex acts with Epstein and third parties from his close circle of friends at Epstein’s many luxury properties, including his Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan, his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, his ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and his home in London. According to the indictment , Maxwell would first build a rapport with the girls by taking them shopping and would then normalize sexual abuse by being present at the time of the sexual acts. She is also accused of even participating and initiating violations against the girls herself. The indictment charges that Maxwell “would try to normalize sexual abuse for a minor victim, by, among other things, discussing sexual topics, undressing in front of the victim, being present when a minor victim was undressed, and/or being present for sex acts involving the minor victim and Epstein.” It is claimed that Maxwell engaged in this activity going back to 1994. For a time line on Maxwell's history and relationship with Epstein, check out this comprehensive Vanity Fair article. 

So why did Maxwell not leave the country? She is potentially facing up to 35 years in prison and is known to have three passports , many international connections, and the financial means to go any where in the world. 

Should we assume she has something to offer? Rumors are that Maxwell has explosive video tapes of sexual acts with minors, pictures and emails potentially implicating powerful men who may have been complicit or may have participated in Epstein’s sex trafficking, including individuals known to have flown numerous times on Epstein’s private plane (Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and the former prime minister of Israel). Other social relationships are also in question , including President Trump, law professor Alan Dershowitz, CEO and founder of L Brands, Les Wexner, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former US Sen. George Mitchell. All have denied any such ties to Epstein or Maxwell. 

If Maxwell has real corroborating evidence to support what Epstein's many young victims are claiming and to identify others who were complicit, Maxwell may get an immunity deal and walk away with no jail time. Her word alone is not likely to be enough since she has previously lied under oath. 

It is possible that Maxwell may claim that she herself is a victim and that she was threatened and forced to help Epstein and comply with his requests to solicit young women for his personal pleasure. Plausible? Instinct might tell you that it is statistically rare for women to commit such heinous acts to solicit and groom young girls for sex. However, it is not . According to a 2015 study from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , some 62% of suspected traffickers are men and 38% are women. Maxwell is alleged to have solicited young women for Epstein to sexually abuse for many years and participated in such criminal activity. 

Maxwell knew the authorities were coming for her. She was ready and waiting. Our guess is that her lawyers have her well prepared to defend herself and that she has valuable information to potentially negotiate a deal. According to recent reports, Maxwell has hired the former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Christian Everdell, who helped bring down cartel drug leader El Chapo Guzman. After Everdell's successful prosecution, he received the True American Hero Award by the Federal Drug Agent Foundation. 

Maxwell claims she is innocent of all wrongdoing and that she did not know about Epstein's sexual trafficking of underaged girls.

We can’t wait to see what happens next. For now, let’s hope the authorities keep her alive in prison.