Ghislaine Maxwell sent to 'low security' Tallahassee prison for role in Epstein sex-trafficking ring
The disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to a low security federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., where she will serve a 20-year sentence for her role as an accomplice with Jeffrey Epstein in a decade-spanning sex-trafficking ring.
In December, Maxwell, 60, was convicted of luring and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused and exploited by Epstein — the wealthy financier who killed himself while in custody and awaiting trial in 2019.
Maxwell will be eligible for release in July 2037, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website.
Guilty verdict: Ghislaine Maxwell, associate of Jeffrey Epstein, convicted in sex abuse case
Judge recommended other facility before Bureau of Prisons sent Maxwell to Tallahassee
The bureau's decision to send Maxwell to the FCI Tallahassee was against the recommendation of Judge Alison J. Nathan, who oversaw Maxwell's trial, according to court records filed in the Southern District of New York.
"The court makes the following recommendations to the Bureau of Prisons: Defendant to be considered for designation to FCI Danbury (in Connecticut)," stated court records that were first reported by the Daily Mail. The Danbury facility was notably the inspiration behind the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black."
The bureau ultimately sent Maxwell to the state where some of the crimes for which she has been convicted occurred.
For three years, beginning in 2001, Maxwell and Epstein enticed teenage girls to visit Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, a six-hour drive from Tallahassee, "to engage in sex acts with Epstein, after which Epstein, Maxwell, or another employee of Epstein’s would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash," read a portion of the summary of charges.
Maxwell's monthlong trial concluded on Dec. 29 following a five-day deliberation by the jury, who ultimately found Maxwell guilty of five of six counts, including transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, two conspiracy charges and sex trafficking.
The trial saw harrowing accounts from multiple women who described being abused as teens — as young as 14 — between about 1994 to 2004 at Epstein's residences in New York, New Mexico and Palm Beach, Fla.
On June 28, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She will also face five years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay a $750,000 fine, according to the Department of Justice.
Maxwell appealed her conviction in early July, according to court records.
Maxwell's new life in the 'low security' federal prison
The Florida Correction Institute Tallahassee, at 501 Capital Circle N.E., is described on its website as a "low security federal correctional institution with a detention center."
It houses over 700 female inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons database
While serving her sentence, Maxwell can participate in the prison's leisure time activities including everything from yoga, Pilates, "arts and crafts programs to intramural team sports such as softball, basketball, and volleyball," according to FCI Tallahassee's handbook.
The prison also hosts apprenticeship programs in cooking, painting, woodworking among others.
Inmates at the North Florida prison are ruled by a schedule of "controlled movement," which breaks up the inmate's day by the hour through announcements over loudspeakers around the facility, the handbook reads. To start, inmates are awoken at 6 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends before they are released for breakfast.
They then are able to exercise, begin a work shift, attend a class and shower before they are to return to their cells for a 9 p.m. roll call, the handbook says.
Staff search inmate's cells at random, unannounced times, even when the inmate is not present.
Khaki pants, khaki shirts, khaki dresses, underwear, bras, socks and authorized shoes are the permitted attire at the facility.
Maxwell is likely the most notable inmate to serve time in the Tallahassee federal prison.
Others include Chelsea Gerlach, a Earth Liberation Front member; Maria Butina, a secret agent for the Kremlin who tried infiltrating conservative U.S. political groups; Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Manson family involved in a assassination attempt of Gerald Ford; and Colleen LaRose, also known as "Jihad Jane."
Related: Maria Butina, Russian woman who admitted being secret agent, released from Tallahassee prison
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to Tallahassee prison to serve sentence
