Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers are arguing that he should wait for his trial in his massive Manhattan mansion
Jeffrey Epstein is looking for a sweet deal once again.
The multimillionaire was arrested Sunday and accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving dozens of minors, and has since been held in a New York City prison. Yet his lawyers are now arguing that he should wait for trial in his massive Upper East Side townhouse instead, and they've drawn up some pretty disturbing reasoning for the request.
In the pretrial release request Epstein's lawyers filed Thursday, they argue he should be released to his townhouse on a $77 million bond package — a value that matches the estimated cost of Epstein's home, CNBC notes. Prosecutors have said they oppose bail for Epstein because he poses an "extraordinary risk of flight," per Reuters. To combat that, Epstein's lawyers say he'll "deregister" his private jet and vehicles. Meanwhile, a GPS tracker and "privately funded security guards will virtually guarantee" he stays inside, the lawyers say.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Epstein deserves this preferential treatment because, as his lawyers claim, this isn't exactly a "sex trafficking case" like the government claims. Epstein's allegations occurred within a maximum of "two residences," and there aren't any insinuations he "trafficked anybody for commercial profit," the lawyers say — as if that somehow makes the alleged conduct better. Kathryn Krawczyk
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
How to invest in the artificial intelligence boomThe Explainer Artificial intelligence is the biggest trend in technology, but there are fears that companies are overvalued
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
