Yoga, puppies and pampering – inside Ghislaine Maxwell's new jail in Texas

Irish Independent

4 days ago

But the reality of Maxwell's life behind bars is very different. Having been transferred to a minimum security prison in Texas from Florida, Epstein's ex-girlfriend can spend the rest of her 20-year sentence cuddling puppies and pampering herself with anti-ageing face creams.
Similar to the upmarket retreats she no doubt grew accustomed to during her former life of luxury, the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Texas offers yoga classes and a fully-stocked gym.
Described as a 'luxury' facility by her victims, Maxwell will be rubbing shoulders with other wealthy inmates and can spend the earnings from her prison jobs on cosmetics.
Bryan grants its female prisoners the freedom to roam the facility's expansive grounds with limited to no perimeter fencing to pen them in. There are gardening opportunities for the green-fingered criminals.
The 37-acre all-female facility, located 160km outside of Houston, is home to 635 inmates, according to the prison's website, most of whom are serving time for non-violent offences and white-collar crimes. Inmates sleep in bunk beds with four people per room.
Julie Howell (44) who self-surrendered in July to serve time at Bryan, said that the prison is 'nothing like you see on TV or in the movies because it's a camp, which only houses non-violent offenders'.
Since arriving, she has enrolled in the 'puppy programme', which involves playing with a 12-week-old Labrador all day and even sleeping in the same room as each other, she wrote on Facebook.
The prison has a partnership with Canine Companions for Independence, which allows prisoners to train dogs to become service animals and is said to 'boost the inmates' morale, provide them with a sense of responsibility and improve overall behaviour', according to the programme's website.
'We do water and mud play and keep them busy from morning until night with some kennel rests in between,' Mrs Howell said.
'This is my 'job' while I'm here and it's literally 24/7 as the puppies stay in the room with us. It's me, my bunkie, and a puppy and we have to supervise the puppy at all times… I absolutely love it.'
Besides Maxwell, the prison's celebrity clientele includes Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who is serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors by falsely claiming her company's blood-testing technology was revolutionary.
Jen Shah, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, is also doing a six-year stretch for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Other high-profile inmates include Michelle Janavs, the Hot Pockets heiress, who served five months in Bryan for bribing university officials to inflate her daughters' exam scores.
Lea Fastow, the wife of Enron chief executive and fellow convicted felon Andrew Fastow, also spent 11 months at the facility in 2005 for tax fraud after the Texas energy company collapsed.
Holmes and Shah have each been pictured exercising in the prison camp's grounds, with the latter's team sharing an image of her skipping in May while wearing grey workout gear.
The facility is among the best in the country for convicts to serve time in, according to multiple lists compiled by inmates' rights groups.
According to the prison handbook, life at the prison is centred on work, with prisoners earning up to $1.15 (€0.99) an hour for their jobs, many of which involve food service and factory work. These can even be off-site opportunities, for the best behaved prisoners.
They can spend up to $360 a month of their earnings during assigned shopping days at a commissary, which sells beauty products, including L'oreal Revita anti-ageing cream for $26.00, a Kerasal nailcare product for $20, and chest binders for trans prisoners for $26.
Beyond work, inmates may take classes in foreign languages, gardening and beautification. They can play sports, watch television and attend religious services. They are also granted freedoms not available in most low-security prisons, including more relaxed visiting hours and more time outside, and lower guard-to-inmate ratios.
For inmates trying to trim down, the prison has a gym kitted out with treadmills, elliptical trainers, stairmasters and a range of weights.
Outside, convicts can take part in sports including football, table tennis, softball, volleyball, weightlifting, yoga, Pilates and the Jumpstart weight loss programme. There are also picnic tables, bleachers and televisions available for prisoners to wind down.
The Bryan prison camp also subscribes to rehabilitation programmes, such as one called 'assert yourself for female offenders', where 'women learn to be assertive without trampling the rights of others', according to a Department of Justice document from 2020.
As she embarks on life at the new facility, Maxwell will rise at 6am each day for a roll-call with the other female inmates and will have to dress in a prison-issue khaki shirt and fatigues, according to the handbook.
Inmates are permitted to have one approved radio or MP3 player and can wear minimal jewellery, such as a wedding band or a chain worth under $100.
Breakfast consists of a choice of a hot or continental-style breakfast, while the lunch and dinner menu offers standard federal prison fare consisting of chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and tacos.
Inmates are also allowed visitors during weekends and holidays, but along with other inmates, Maxwell would be allowed only limited physical contact with friends and family.
Maxwell's victims blasted the decision to allow her to move prisons, saying the move 'smacks of a cover up'.