We don't want ‘disgusting' sex traffickers in our prison, say Ghislaine Maxwell's fellow inmates

Telegraph

16 hours ago

Ghislaine's Maxwell's arrival at a minimum-security prison in Texas has provoked anger among her fellow inmates.
A prisoner at Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan told The Telegraph she was 'disgusted' by Maxwell's transfer and that her feelings were widely shared by other inmates at the facility.
Maxwell, the British socialite and former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, was quietly moved to the prison camp 100 miles outside Houston, Texas, this week from a stricter low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
Her new prison mostly houses inmates convicted of 'white-collar' crimes and low-level offences, and they are said to be angry that Maxwell is being held among them.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for procuring underage girls for the late financier and convicted paedophile, who took his own life in prison in 2019.
Julie Howell, 44, who is serving a one-year sentence for theft, told The Telegraph that 'every inmate I've heard from is upset she's here'.
'This facility is supposed to house non-violent offenders,' she added. 'Human trafficking is a violent crime.'
Inmates at minimum-security institutions, also known as FPCs, benefit from low prison guard-to-inmate ratio and limited-to-no perimeter fencing.
It is the same prison facility where Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, a fraudulent blood-testing company, is serving an 11-year sentence.
It also allows inmates to play with puppies as part of a scheme to train dogs to become service animals.
Upon Maxwell's arrival at the facility, prisoners were allegedly locked down and had the blinds shut in an apparent effort to shield her from view.
The transfer comes a week after she was interviewed by Todd Blanche, Donald Trump 's deputy attorney general, leading to intense speculation that some sort of deal has been cut.
Mr Trump has come under pressure in recent weeks to release all information related to Epstein, after the Department of Justice and FBI concluded that he died by suicide and did not possess a 'client list'.
During a nine-hour interrogation with Mr Blanche, Maxwell was allegedly grilled about Epstein's connections to Bill Clinton, the Duke of York and Bill Gates, as well several other billionaires, according to the Daily Mail.
Maxwell's legal team have said she is willing to testify before Congress in exchange for a presidential pardon or having her sentence commuted – a possibility Mr Trump has not ruled out.
Inmates at FPC Bryan are worried about their own safety, given the widespread threats against Maxwell and lack of tight security on the prison grounds.
Howell said: 'We have heard there are threats against her life and many of us are worried about our own safety because she's here.'
Her comments will only fuel concern that could be targeted at the facility, preventing her testimony about Epstein from ever seeing the light of day.
Maxwell was allegedly moved under the cover of darkness because she had been 'bombarded' with death threats from rapists who accused her of being a 'snitch', according to the Mail on Sunday.
A source told the newspaper: 'As soon as Ghislaine spoke to the government she was considered a snitch by other inmates at Tallahassee. There were very real and very credible threats on her life.
'There were real fears inside Tallahassee that they could not guarantee her safety, which is why she was moved.'
Maxwell 'could be a flight risk'
Howell, who self-surrendered in July to serve her sentence at FPC Bryan, has a daughter who was trafficked as a teenager.
In an email sent from prison about Maxwell's transfer, she wrote: 'I am honestly shocked she was moved to a federal prison camp with her history and charges.'
The married mother-of-four said that her daughter was repeatedly trafficked from the age of 17, leading to her being 'beaten, choked and eventually shot'.
Her daughter also allegedly became pregnant as a result and Howell said she has since adopted the child.
The former professor, who worked in children's education for 22 years, said she helped the FBI and local law enforcement agencies track down the perpetrators, who are now serving federal prison sentences of more than 20 years.
'That incident changed the trajectory of my daughter's life, as well as mine,' she said.
Howell said that the circumstances surrounding her daughter being shot provoked her mental health spiral and addiction to gambling, which she funded by resorting to theft.
In January, she pleaded guilty to stealing almost $1m from Tarleton State University, her former employer, between 2022 and 2024. She was sentenced to one year in prison in June.
Howell said: 'I don't blame anyone else for the actions that brought me to FPC Bryan, but I can definitely say that the circumstances that surrounded my daughter being shot were what sparked my spiral and addiction to gambling to escape my reality.
'Having Ms Maxwell here triggered all of those feelings.'
Howell also warned that Maxwell could be a flight risk, given her previous efforts to avoid detection prior to her arrest.
She said: 'This is a camp you can literally walk out of. I don't care how many people she turns in, it doesn't take away from her actions.
'As a mother of a sex-trafficking victim, I'm absolutely disgusted she's in this facility. Regardless of her reasoning, I don't think she belongs here.'