Sentence:  Held as a material witness in the compulsory prostitution trial of Mickey Jelke , the comely courtesan <WSD>was</WSD> unable to raise bail and was committed to the Women 's House of Detention , a terribly overcrowded prison . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)