Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved from a federal detention center in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas, her lawyer said Friday.
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges, had been serving her 20-year sentence at a low-security prison in Tallahassee. Attorney David Oscar Markus said she was moved to the federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, about 95 miles northwest of Houston. He did not give a reason for the transfer, and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Bryan is among the facilities with the lowest level of security in the federal system, with limited or no perimeter fencing, dormitory-style housing and a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio. Another high-profile inmate held there is Elizabeth
Holmes, the disgraced founder of the Silicon Valley blood-testing company Theranos who was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy.
Based on her conviction and sentence, Maxwell is an unusual candidate to be transferred to a federal prison camp. Bureau of Prison guidelines say that inmates who have more than 10 years remaining on their sentences are not typically eligible for a minimum-security facility, though a number of variables are considered.
The family of
Virginia Giuffre — who was among Jeffrey Epstein’s most well-known sex trafficking accusers and who died by suicide this year — said in a statement that Maxwell’s transfer to the federal prison camp reflected “the justice system failing victims right before our eyes.”
“It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received,” said the statement, also signed by other women who said they were victims of Epstein and Maxwell. “Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency. Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum-security luxury prison in Texas.”
