
What we know about Camp Bryan, Ghislaine Maxwell's new minimum-security prison
The big picture: Camp Bryan is a minimum security prison facility that has hosted notable figure public figures, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and reality TV star Jen Shah.
The facility was opened in 1988 and encompasses about 37 acres of land.
Ghislaine Maxwell moved to Camp Bryan
Driving the news: Maxwell was moved from a prison in Florida to the one in Texas, as multiple outlets reported Friday. The New York Sun was first to report the news.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was found guilty on multiple counts of conspiring to sex traffic minors. She has continued to appeal her conviction and spoken to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for nine hours over two days last week.
The once-girlfriend and associate of Epstein has regained the spotlight in recent weeks as investigators see her as a potential source of information on the disgraced financier.
What to know about Camp Bryan
Zoom in: The federal prison for female inmates is located in Bryan, Texas, which is roughly 100 miles outside of Houston. The prison has 635 total inmates, according to the prison's website.
At Camp Bryan, inmates typically live in two-person bunk beds, which sit within four-to-eight person cubicles, per Pink Lady Prison Consultants, a prison consulting group.
The facilities offer worship services and programs for Christian, Jewish, and Muslim inmates, the group said.
There is a full-time medical staff on hand. If the medical staff can't help inmates, then prisoners are brought to the nearby Bryan Medical Center and St. Josephs Regional Hospital, the consulting group said.
Elizabeth Holmes, Jen Shah also at Camp Bryan
The FPC Bryan has made headlines for housing the Theranos founder Holmes, who was found guilty of conspiracy and fraud against investors by a California jury in 2022.
"It's been hell and torture to be here," Holmes said in an interview with People magazine about her time at Camp Bryan.
BBC News said her routine at the federal prison including wearing "khaki pants and a khaki shirt" and a 6 a.m. wakeup call every day.
Worth noting: Former "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah, who pleaded guilty to a telemarking fraud scheme, has been living at Camp Bryan.
In May, her reps posted an update on her website showing Shah exercising outside with a jump rope, wearing a gray sweat outfit.
"I wanted to share a personal image that I mailed to my team of one of my shahmazing workouts," she said in the post.
What to know about Federal Prison Camps
Context: Federal prison camps are "minimum security institutions" that "have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing. These institutions are work- and program-oriented."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Nation's violent crime rate fell in 2024 to lowest in 20 years: FBI
The nation's violent and property crime rates dropped to a two-decade low in 2024, following the COVID-era surge in homicides, according to new FBI data released this week. Why it matters: The numbers show crime was heading toward a 20-year record low in the last year of the Biden administration, despite President Trump's false campaign claims that President Biden was overseeing a nationwide crime spike. The big picture: The new FBI numbers released Tuesday also come as preliminary data from the country's largest cities in 2025 so far suggest violent crime is falling even more and could be heading to modern record lows. By the numbers: The U.S. had a violent crime rate of 359.1 per 100,000 residents last year, the FBI said. That surpassed the lowest violent crime rate the nation has had since 2014, when it was 372.4 per 100,000 residents, and many cities saw 30-year lows, an Axios analysis found. The rate was 370.4 in 2021, but that year the FBI collected data using two reporting systems, which makes the year not comparable. Meanwhile, the nation's property crime rate dropped to 1760.1 per 100,000 residents last year. That's also a 20-year low, according to an Axios analysis of FBI numbers. Zoom in: Overall violent crime dropped by 4.5% and all property crime decreased 8.1% from 2024 to 2023, the FBI said. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter fell 14.9% during the same period. Automobile theft went down a staggering 18.6%, FBI data showed. The intrigue: The FBI announcement made no mention of crime rates falling to 20-year lows — and didn't give out the crime rates per 100,000 residents as it does each year. The FBI also didn't say what was behind the drops. Context: Violent crime ticked up early in Biden's term, but reports show it's dropped significantly since then as law enforcement agencies responded to the pandemic surge and adopted more detailed recordkeeping. Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump repeated false claims that immigration had sparked rising crime nationwide — a reason he gave for his mass deportation plan. What they're saying:"As the pandemic receded, criminal justice experts fully expected crime to decline," Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice, told Axios. Rahman said the crime drops occurred, even while police staffing levels have declined in the past five years by around 5% nationwide. "What's driving these unprecedented gains in community safety is the government investment in community infrastructure from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act and the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act." Yes, but: The 2024 year-end data follows the Justice Department's April cancellation of $820 million in grants that had supported over 550 organizations focused on crime prevention research and services. What we're watching: The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) will continue to issue quarterly preliminary violent crime data from nearly 70 large cities.


New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Theme park fraudsters duped widower, 91, out of $60M by convincing him God was ‘commanding him' to fund it: suit
They took him for a ride. A devoutly religious 91-year-old widow was bamboozled into dumping $60 million into an Oklahoma theme park by alleged fraudsters — who posed as God and 'commanded him' to fork over his cash for the failed project, according to a new lawsuit. Gene Bicknell, a wealthy former Florida businessman, was 'tricked' into sinking his fortune into the American Heartland Theme Park in Vinita by three park officials, two of whom sent him hundreds of text messages posing as the big man upstairs and other religious figures, according to a lawsuit filed July 25. 4 A devoutly religious 91-year-old widow alleges he was 'tricked' into sinking his fortune into the American Heartland Theme Park by park officials posing as the big man upstairs and other religious figures. American Heartland 4 According to the court papers, they ultimately constructed nothing more than a gravel road and a fence. Andy Dossett / Examiner-Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The years-long scheme of 'psychological manipulation' was allegedly carried out by Missouri-based preacher Larry Wilhite and supposed entertainment industry executives Richard Silanskas and Stephen Hedrick, according to the lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma federal court. 'AWAKE MY CHILD. THIS IS A DAY OF GREAT DECISION AND URGENCY,' declares one of the messages, supposedly sent from God on May 2, 2022. 'This mission will not tolerate anything but ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE,' it read, allegedly ordering Bicknell to hand over millions for the theme park. 'I AM INSTRUCTING YOU TO EMPTY THE STOREHOUSES AND ACCELERATE THIS MISSION WITHOUT DELAY,' it proclaimed. Previous 1 of 6 Next Advertisement The messages received by Bicknell. Northern District Court of Oklahoma The messages received by Bicknell. Northern District Court of Oklahoma Advertisement The messages received by Bicknell. Northern District Court of Oklahoma Message from Bicknell. Northern District Court of Oklahoma Advertisement More messages purportedly from 'God' followed, prompting Bicknell — a former Pizza Hut franchise owner from a 'humble' upbringing — to begin spending millions on land for the 1,000-acre theme park, which was initially designed to rival Disney destinations, according to the lawsuit. 'For years, those electronic messages preyed upon Gene's devout Christian faith and admonished [him] to obey 'God's' will without doubts or second-guessing,' the suit states. 4 The 1,000-acre theme park was initially designed to rival Disney destinations, according to the lawsuit. American Heartland 4 The park was initially scheduled to open in 2026 and has been delayed until at least 2028, according to reports. Business Wire via AP Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! 'Silanskas and Wilhite made Gene believe that God Himself was commanding Gene to infuse ever more cash into the Project.' But after years of allegedly fleecing the elderly man out of more than $60 million and spending some of the dough on 'themselves and their family members,' they ultimately constructed nothing more than a gravel road and a fence, the court papers state. The alleged scam caused Bicknell to suffer 'severe emotional distress' and 'a stroke,' according to the lawsuit, which seeks a jury trial and an unspecified monetary damages. The theme park officials ultimately 'operated a criminal enterprise that defrauded Bicknell and duped him into sinking his remaining fortune,' according to the suit. The stalled $2 billion theme park project — which was slated to include a modern indoor water park and an RV area, hotel and cabins — was initially scheduled to open in 2026 and has been delayed until at least 2028, according to reports. A lawyer for Bicknell declined to comment Wednesday. Wilhite, Silanskas and Hedrick couldn't immediately be reached for comment.


New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
DC crime is out of control — a federal takeover could be the only solution
Last year, I first proposed to my husband the idea of allowing our preteen daughter to ride the Washington, DC, Metro alone. She wants to take Irish dance classes in the city, and a weekly drive in from the Maryland suburbs is too much for the family schedule. Then came story after story of stabbings, gang violence, and even a shooting on the Metro. My proposal went back on the shelf. We moved to the DC suburbs because of its proximity to the best our nation's capital has to offer. I frequently take our six kids into the city to explore the Smithsonian museums, attend performances at the Kennedy Center, and soak up the living civics lesson that is Washington, DC. But in recent years, that promise has begun to unravel. The Metro stations that once filled us with civic pride now fill us with unease. City streets feel less predictable, less policed. And worst of all, none of it feels like an accident. Since the pandemic and the 2020 protests, Washington, DC has been spiraling. Police were demoralized. Prosecutions declined. Repeat offenders walked free. The result? Growing lawlessness and a population that no longer feels protected. Just this week, a former DOGE employee risked his life to save a woman from being assaulted by a group of a dozen teens in the city. He was beaten so severely that he suffered a concussion, but he prevented what could have been a much more tragic outcome. Elon Musk shared the story on X and added his own conclusion: 'It is time to federalize DC.' He's not the only one who feels that way. President Donald Trump posted a blistering statement on Truth Social, declaring that 'Crime in Washington, DC is totally out of control.' He pointed to youth gangs, violent assaults and the lack of consequences for offenders. 'If DC doesn't get its act together, and quickly,' Trump warned, 'we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City . . . and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore.' Critics will call this authoritarian. But for parents like me, people trying to raise independent, confident children in this area, the idea is simply a relief. And this isn't just about families and tourists. Leo Terrell, chair of the Justice Department's task force to combat antisemitism, sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser this week blasting the city's failure to protect the Israel on Campus Coalition's recent student conference. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters The organizers had to spend over a quarter of a million dollars on private security to ensure the safety of Jewish attendees — what Terrell called a 'Jewish tax' just to exist peacefully in public. In May, a House staffer was the victim of an armed carjacking in Navy Yard. In July, a congressional intern, 21-year-old Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, was killed in a drive-by shooting that also injured a 16-year-old boy and a woman. If we want the best and brightest to visit our city and serve in government as staffers, civil servants or interns, we need to offer them a capital that is safe to live in. Right now, we can't. If staffers, students and commuters can't move through this city without fear, what exactly are we doing? I'd love to hand my daughter a flip phone and a SmartTrip card and give her a taste of independence. But I can't. Not while Metro attacks happen weekly. Not while carjackings plague every neighborhood. Not while city leaders stand paralyzed, caught between ideology and inertia. Washington, DC, should be a national showcase — but unless someone restores order, the city will continue its descent into fear and frustration. The message from parents, federal workers and even tech billionaires is the same: Enough is enough. We want our kids to love this city. But more than that, we want them to be safe in it. And that shouldn't be too much to ask. Bethany Mandel writes and podcasts at The Mom Wars and is a homeschooling mother of six in greater Washington, DC.