Convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell has been sent to a Florida prison where she will serve her 20-year sentence for helping billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls.
The disgraced socialite has been moved to FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison in the Sunshine State, near where she committed her crimes.
Maxwell, 60, was sent to Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) and is set to stay there until 17 July 2037, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
The Bureau of Prisons website indicates Maxwell will be eligible for release on July 17 2037.
The choice of prison by the BOP is against the recommendation of Judge Alison Nathan, who oversaw Maxwell’s trial for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Nathan asked the BOP – following a request from Maxwell’s lawyers – to send her to FCI Danbury in Connecticut.
However the BOP has ultimate authority and decided against sending Maxwell there.
Despite this Maxwell, 60, will likely welcome the news as she has complained bitterly about her treatment at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she has been held since her arrest in July 2020.
Her lawyers have accused prison authorities of breaching her rights by shining a torch in her cell every 15 minutes and subjected her to invasive searches while filming her at all hours.
Judge Alison Nathan, who presided over Maxwell’s sentencing, said the socialite had exaggerated her mistreatment after lawyers said it warranted a shorter sentence.
Nathan was reported to have accepted the plea from lawyers for Maxwell to be sent to FCI Danbury and it was unclear why prison authorities went against the judge’s decision.
While at the MDC Maxwell had already impressed other inmates by teaching them yoga and English – she will likely continue to do so in her new prison.
According to one prison consultant, Zoukis Consulting Group, yoga is available to inmates at FCI Tallahassee as well as pilates, weights, softball, flag football and frisbee – English is also taught for those who want to learn.
Maxwell will be able to keep herself entertained by taking part in the prison talent show or watching movies.
There is also a track for running – Maxwell is known to be a keen jogger.
Maxwell will be able to continue learning Russian – her lawyers have said she started doing so in the MDC to keep herself entertained – in the recreational library.
Among the apprenticeships that Maxwell can do are: electrician, baker, horticulturist and plumber, though it is not clear which local companies she would potentially work for.
Cosmetology is also offered as a trade for inmates to learn, a pursuit which may include massage. Maxwell’s convictions were based on underage girls being brought to Epstein for sexualized massages.
Maxwell was sentenced on 28 June to 20 years in prison and fined $750,000 (£620,000) on five charges, including sex trafficking, related to her grooming of girls for her former partner, the late billionaire Epstein.
