DOJ-OGR-00019851.jpg

Case 21-58, Document 39-1, 04/01/2021, 3068530, Page23 of 31 Recognizing this weakness, the Government relies on the statutory maximum penalty to argue that the case is serious and that Ms. Maxwell poses a risk of flight. But the statutory maximum is hardly relevant to determine risk of flight. In the vast majority of federal cases, the statutory maximum penalties are sky-high and are not reflective of the real potential penalties. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 1658(b) (statutory maximum of life imprisonment for turning off a light in a lighthouse to expose a ship to danger). Even if there were evidence to back up the four anonymous accusers, the Second Circuit “require[s] more than evidence of the commission of a serious crime and the fact of a potential long sentence to support a finding of risk of flight.” United States v. Friedman, 837 F.2d 48, 49-50 (2d. Cir. 1988) (district court’s finding that defendant posed a risk of flight was clearly erroneous, despite potential for “long sentence of incarceration’); Sabhnani, 493 F.3d at 65, 76-77 (reversing detention order where defendants agreed to significant physical and financial restrictions, despite the fact that they faced a “lengthy term of incarceration’). 21 DOJ-OGR-00019851