New York Times, The Guardian and New York Daily News Quote David S. Weinstein Regarding Arrest and Indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell
Hinshaw attorney David S. Weinstein, a Miami-based partner and former federal prosecutor, was quoted in stories published by the New York Times, The Guardian and New York Daily News regarding the arrest and charging of Ghislaine Maxwell, a confidante of Jeffrey Epstein. The charges allege Maxwell acted as a recruiter of underage girls for Epstein, and also participated in his sexual abuse of the teens. Last August, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, of an apparent suicide, while facing charges of sexual abuse of minors.
In a story titled "Epstein Cohort's Arrest Becomes New Test for Plea Deal," Weinstein analyzed the significance of a 2008 plea deal Epstein had negotiated with federal and state prosecutors in South Florida. That agreement sought to prevent prosecution of any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including "but not limited to" four women listed by name. While Maxwell was not one of the four women named in the agreement, Weinstein said the "not limited to" wording was broad enough for her lawyers to argue the agreement applied to her as well.
Weinstein also noted, however, that Maxwell's indictment includes alleged crimes from a time period prior to the activities that were the subject of Epstein's 2008 plea deal, which would allow the New York prosecutors to argue that "this stuff happened before, so it’s not covered and therefore Maxwell’s not protected."
In a story titled "Ghislaine Maxwell faces prospect of incarceration at same jail where Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself," Weinstein looked at the prospects of Maxwell having bail granted. Due to the risk of catching coronavirus behind bars, Weinstein said Maxwell had a "25% to 40% chance" of receiving bail, adding "[s]he’s got a much better chance than Epstein had of getting out." He also reiterated his analysis that by charging Maxwell with 1990's crimes New York prosecutors intended to "cut off at the knees" any argument that Maxwell is protected by Epstein's 2008 plea deal.
In a story titled “What's next for Ghislaine Maxwell – and will she cooperate with prosecutors,” Weinstein discussed the possibility that Maxwell’s potential lengthy sentence might serve as a possible incentive to cooperate with the government. Weinstein said that, "They will use all of this to pressure her into cooperating against the other ‘known and unknown co-conspirators’ mentioned in counts one and three [of the indictment]. However, keep in mind that at this point, with Epstein dead, she is the kingpin of the ‘organization.’ If she cooperates, she would be cooperating down. Those co-conspirators would have to be high profile individuals to warrant [prosecutors] accepting her cooperation."
Finally, Weinstein also discussed the Maxwell arrest with Ryan Gorman, host of PM Tampa Bay on NewsRadio WFLA: