A separate investigation into the ring that sold stolen guns and pain medication picked up Ms. Sultan sending a text message to the man accused of being the ringleader, Ivan Chavez, saying she wanted to sell him a .357 Magnum handgun for $850, according to a separate indictment by the Manhattan district attorney.

The police burst through the doors of the loft on July 12 and arrested Ms. Sultan. As she was led through the halls of State Supreme Court in Manhattan to be arraigned, she contorted her neck and torso to hide her face from news cameras, trying to avoid the attention she had commanded for most of her life.

No charges have been filed against Mr. Cohen. The two former entrepreneurs are facing a contempt charge in the bankruptcy case. Two lawyers have stopped representing them, with one telling the court that Ms. Sultan and Mr. Cohen had lied to him; the pair are now representing themselves in court. The judge and the trustee have accused them of trying to delay the sale of the apartment, which they have said is their only asset. The trustee listed the apartment for $6.25 million, which would leave them nothing after paying off debts.

Mr. Cohen has interfered with showings and frightened at least one real estate broker, according to court records.

“At a broker open house on July 2, 2012, I noticed that Cohen was carrying a handgun in the back of his pants,” a broker with the Corcoran Group said in a sworn affidavit. “The gun was clearly visible through his white shirt. Seeing this terrified me.”

Since the arrest, Ms. Sultan has remained on Rikers Island without the resources to make bail.

Ms. Sultan’s mother, who moved to Florida 15 years ago, says she hopes for redemption for her daughter, of the sort described by a younger Jennifer Sultan in that high school yearbook 20 years ago. “Falling down along the way, I must pick myself up and proceed with my journey,” she wrote.