Buster

In arguing to detain Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged madam/fellow sex trafficker, federal prosecutors contend that the socialite is a severe flight risk in light of the lengthy prison sentence she faces if convicted of felony charges detailed in an indictment unsealed today.

Maxwell, 58, is charged with procuring and grooming underage girls for the late Epstein, a serial predator who committed suicide last year while imprisoned following his federal indictment for sex trafficking.

Like Epstein, Maxwell has been charged in the Southern District of New York, where prosecutors today filed a memorandum seeking her detention in advance of trial on six felony counts. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years behind bars.

Epstein and Maxwell are pictured above in a photo included in Maxwell’s indictment. Click here to download a PDF copy of the government memo seeking Maxwell’s pretrial detention.

Maxwell, government lawyers wrote, has “extensive international ties” that would “make it exceptionally easy for her to flee and live abroad.” Maxwell, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002, is also a citizen of France, where she was born, and the United Kingdom, where she was schooled. “The defendant appears to possess passports” from all three countries, prosecutors noted.

An examination of Maxwell’s finances identified more than 15 bank accounts “held by or associated with the defendant from 2016 to the present,” with combined balances that, at times, exceeded $20 million. Additionally, as recently as last year, Maxwell reported she “holds one or more foreign bank accounts containing more than a million dollars.”

Maxwell’s financial resources “appear to be substantial, and her numerous accounts and substantial money movements render her total financial picture opaque and indeterminate,” prosecutors wrote.

Since Epstein’s July 2019 indictment, Maxwell “has effectively been in hiding for approximately a year” in New England. Most recently, Maxwell was holed up on a 156-acre spread in Bradford, New Hampshire (where she was arrested this morning). The property, seen below, was purchased for cash seven months ago by a “carefully anonymized LLC,” prosecutors reported.

Maxwell’s 4635-square-foot home was bought for $1.07 million in December 2019 by Granite Reality, LLC, which was incorporated a month earlier. According to New Hampshire state records, the company’s address is care of Nutter McClennen & Fish, a Boston law firm. Attorney Jeffrey Roberts, a partner who chairs the firm’s “Private Client Department,” is listed as manager of Granite Reality.

Noting that Maxwell has no ties keeping her in the U.S.--like children, a job, or immediate family--prosecutors argued that “there are no bail conditions that could reasonably assure the defendant’s continued appearance in this case.”

Maxwell is likely to seek bail, which may prompt a detention hearing at which both defense counsel and prosecutors can present arguments to Judge Alison Nathan.

In real estate news, a North Carolina eyesore decorated with dozens of Confederate flags has been sold by its longtime owner, a 74-year-old jackass with a lengthy rap sheet.

According to Nash County property records, Edward Lee West last year sold his small cottage in Rocky Mount, a predominantly African-American city about 60 miles east of Raleigh, to a Latino couple for $9000 (the same price he paid for the 627-square-foot home in 2002).

The house, built in 1910, is pictured above in a 2015 photo and below in a realtor’s image from last year.  

For years, West’s fenced-in home had multiple Confederate flags flying outside the ramshackle one-bedroom, one-bath property, which was protected by barbed wire and a wooden fence.

Following the June 2015 church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina that was perpetrated by white supremacist Dylan Roof, West added even more Confederate flags outside his residence. At the time, West said that he owned about 150 Confederate battle flags.

In the face of criticism about his flags, West said that if neighbors did not like the display they should move.

It is unknown what prompted the sale or where West has relocated, though he does not appear on a tax assessor’s list of current property owners in Nash County. According to court records, West has been arrested multiple times for weapons offenses.

A Massachusetts resident is facing an assault charge after allegedly striking a highway worker with a “large pickle” thrown from a moving vehicle.

According to police, Christoph Herrmannsdoerfer, 34, was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling yesterday afternoon on U.S. Route 7 in Vermont. Cops allege that Herrmannsdoerfer threw a pickle that hit Carl Hoffman, a 59-year-old employee of the Vermont Agency of Transportation.

The pickle, cops say, “struck the victim and caused him pain.”

Pictured at right, Herrmannsdoerfer was later located and cited for simple assault, a misdemeanor. He is scheduled for a July 20 appearance in Vermont Superior Court.

Herrmannsdoerfer, who lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has multiple drunk driving convictions on his rap sheet. Herrmannsdoerfer was arrested in 2016 in Florida after tangling with police after allegedly threatening an EMS worker with a corkscrew. He subsequently pleaded to a pair of misdemeanors.

A woman arrested for yanking her boyfriend’s hair told police that it was a “sexual thing,” adding that the victim liked it “rough,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Floridian Marnie Faxon, 48, was busted yesterday for domestic battery following a confrontation Sunday with her boyfriend in the Treasure Island apartment the couple shares.

The 47-year-old victim showed police video of Faxon “grabbing his hair and pulling it backward while yelling at him.” A witness cited in the affidavit reported hearing the man “yelling to let his hair go or he would call the police.”

After being read her rights, Faxon reportedly claimed her encounter with the victim was a “sexual thing,” and that “the victim liked ‘it rough.’” Faxon’s boyfriend told cops she was lying about the incident.

Charged with domestic battery, a misdemeanor, Faxon (seen above) was booked into the county jail and later released on her own recognizance. A judge has ordered her to have no contact with the victim.

Faxon’s rap sheet includes a pair of drunk driving convictions, as well as convictions for violating probation and driving with a suspended or revoked license. She was arrested in July 2018 for felony domestic battery after allegedly punching and scratching her then-boyfriend during a confrontation for which she was judged the “primary aggressor.” Prosecutors, however, declined to pursue the matter.

Two young men wearing hollowed-out watermelon rinds on their heads stole alcohol from a Virginia convenience store, according to police who this weekend apprehended one of the masked bandits.

The duo, cops say, earlier this month swiped booze from a Sheetz convenience store in Louisa, a town 30 miles east of Charlottesville. As recorded in surveillance footage, the melon-headed perps had cut eye holes in the watermelon rinds.

As seen above, the pair had even posed for a photograph at a Food Lion store in Louisa prior to their alleged alcohol heist.

Police have charged Justin Rogers, 20, with larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and wearing a mask while committing larceny. Rogers is pictured in the mug shot at right.

Police have asked anyone with information about the identity of Rogers’s accomplice to call them, noting that, “The reference case is “MELON-HEADS.”

Meet Ronald Joseph Gallagher.

The Montana man, 50, was arrested yesterday afternoon on several charges, including marijuana possession, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. He was released this morning from the Missoula County jail after posting bond on the three misdemeanor counts.

As seen in the above booking photo, Gallagher, who is something of a frequent flyer at the local lockup, was wearing a “DRUG FREE” t-shirt when collared. The shirt’s full kicker--“Just ran out yesterday”--was cropped out by the jailhouse photographer.