Financier Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyers want him on house arrest in Manhattan as he waits to go on trial over charges of federal sex trafficking.
The vilified billionaire posted a bond that places a $77 million value on his Upper East Side mansion, which the federal Justice Department wants to seize following his arrest Saturday.
Epstein’s attorneys have argued that he is not a serious flight risk and proposed a bail package that includes electronic monitoring, waiving his extradition rights and letting authorities have full access to his home in Manhattan, according to the Wall Street Journal.
9 East 71st Street (Credit: Google Maps)
A federal judge will determine Epstein’s arrangements for pretrial detention next Monday, and federal prosecutors have said they will respond to his attorneys’ bail request by week’s end. He has been held at a detention center in Manhattan since getting arrested.
Epstein would only be allowed to leave his mansion on the Upper East Side for medical appointments under his lawyers’ house-arrest proposal, and there would be severe restrictions on visitors. An appointed trustee and security cameras would watch over the home.
The wealthy financier has been hit with two counts of sex trafficking and could face a 45-year prison sentence. The government said in a Monday court filing that Epstein’s wealth, international contacts and private planes made him a flight risk but declined to comment to the Journal on the specifics of his attorneys’ house arrest proposal.
“Our response submission to the Court will speak for itself,” a spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said.
Epstein’s home at 9 East 71st Street is among the largest private residences in New York City, spanning 21,000 square feet. [WSJ] — Eddie Small