Ghislaine Maxwell to earn 15 cents cleaning toilets at Florida prison where inmates may 'HATE' her
TALLASSEE, FLORIDA: Disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved to a Florida prison where she will serve her 20-year sentence. She has been sent to FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison in the Sunshine State. Maxwell will reportedly be eligible for release on July 17, 2037.
The choice of prison by the BOP is against Judge Alison Nathan's recommendation, the Daily Mail reported. Nathan, who oversaw Maxwell’s trial, had asked the BOP to send her to FCI Danbury in Connecticut. Holli Coulman, the co-founder of Pink Lady Prison Consultants, said that she was sent to the Tallahassee prison instead because it has staff better trained to handle her.
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Maxwell was expected to be held at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut after her sentencing. It is a low-security facility with separate male and female prisons. The facility was the inspiration for the fictional Litchfield Correctional Institution in the popular TV series 'Orange Is The New Black'.
Life at FCI Tallahassee
Maxwell will earn as little as 15 cents an hour cleaning toilets at the prison, the Daily Mail reported. According to prison consultants, Maxwell will clean toilets, and bathrooms or wash dishes before she is assigned a long-term job like reading water meters or managing payroll.
FCI (Federal Correctional Institute) Tallahassee, which was opened in 1938, has a population of 755 inmates. It houses only women. A prison handbook revealed that Maxwell will be woken up at 6 am every day. An inmate identification card that will be issued must be worn by her at all times.
The inmates' cells may be searched by staff at any time for contraband or stolen property. Each prisoner shares a cell with another person. The handbook revealed that the only approved uniform is khaki pants, khaki shirt, khaki dress, underwear, bra, socks, and authorized shoes. Maxwell will be permitted to wear a plain wedding band, although her marriage to former tech entrepreneur Scott Borgerson is reportedly heading for divorce.
There will be exercise sessions and work periods over the day. Inmates can also learn cosmetology. Prison consultant Zoukis Consulting Group confirmed that yoga is available along with pilates, weights, softball, flag football, and frisbee. English is taught to those who wish to learn.
Maxwell was issued basic items like deodorant, a bar of soap, socks, a bottle of shampoo, toothpaste, and a towel upon arrival. She will be teaching yoga and English to other inmates and will be allowed to take part in prison talent shows and watch movies. She can continue to learn Russian in the recreational library. Maxwell can do apprenticeships, including electrician, baker, horticulturist, and plumber.
Adjusting with murderers
Despite some of the luxuries offered at the facility, Maxwell will have to adjust to murderers and women who have committed serious assaults. Coulman said that some of the inmates will likely "hate" her because of her celebrity status. "Others will gravitate towards her because they think she can pay for commissary items for them. It's not going to be easy for her," Coulman said. "There will be women who have been abused themselves and will not like her at all because of her crimes. The prison will assign their best staff to her and will put her with an older woman who is drama free."
Coulman said that Maxwell must be "humble" to be able to deal with the difficulties. "There are some people who won't appreciate you or even like you. You need to know how to have those conversations, know when to shut up," she said. "She must be humble. She's stepping into a world where a lot of these women have been there for a long time. She needs to know that she will be getting out before a lot of them. The key to surviving is minding your own business, keeping a low profile, but her personality is not that way."
Justin Paperny, the founder of White Collar Advice, said that he would advise Maxwell to be "careful about forming friendships". "People will have been there for years and that prison could cooperate with staff. They may engage in disciplinary infractions. She needs to be careful about those she associates with," he said. "She can't complain. We incarcerate a lot of people, they have been in and out of the system and can't hire lawyers like she did."
Maxwell's record of complaining, Paperny said, could lead to problems as people would not believe her when there was real trouble. Before her sentencing, Maxwell was under a suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center. She was being held in the general population area of a prison where an inmate threatened to kill her. Maxwell had claimed that her cell was squalid and tiny and that she was groped by guards in pat-downs. She also claimed that she could not sleep and was woken up every 15 minutes by a torch light being flashed into her room. She alleged that she was fed "rancid" food, and denied soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.
"It's essential she doesn't complain – that could lead to problems," Paperny said. "I'd encourage her not to speak with staff more than is necessary. She should listen 99 per cent of the time, talk 1 per cent of the time. Recognize she is not different. She needs to look at this as a reboot. Now she's at Tallahassee this will feel like Disneyland compared to what she endured in the MDC."
'Brutally hot' summers
According to Paperny, former inmates had claimed that it was "brutally hot" in the summer and temperatures would soar to 106F. Maxwell will be kept in a space about the size of an office cubicle, but not inside a cell. She will have to share the space with two cellmates. Each cubicle will have a bunk bed, another one on the floor, a locker for each prisoner, and one desk and a swivel chair that the cellmates will need to share.
FCI Tallahassee was in the midst of a controversy in 2007. Back then, six guards at the prison were convicted of a sex-for-contraband scandal. Back then, the men were accused of exchanging items such as gum, perfume, makeup, and bras for sex with women inside. The BOP settled a lawsuit in 2021 in which as many as 15 women accused corrections officers at the facility of sexual abuse. Terrorist Colleen LaRose and Earth Liberation Front member Chelsea Gerlach are among notable inmates of the prison.
Conviction and sentencing
Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021, of recruiting and grooming underage girls for him for several years. She was convicted of almost all counts, with the top charge being sex trafficking of minors, which carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.
The other counts that Maxwell was found guilty of are conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. While both the first and second counts carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the third carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and the fourth carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison. She was acquitted of count 2, which involved enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in helping convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein abuse young girls. US District Judge Alison Nathan said the sentence of 240 months was “sufficient and not greater than necessary" for Maxwell. She was also ordered to pay a $750,000 fine for her role in the crime.
“To you, to you, all the victims who came in court and those outside I am sorry for the pain that you experienced,” Maxwell said after the sentencing. "I hope my conviction and harsh incarceration brings you closure,” she added. In 2019, Epstein died in an apparent suicide while he was in federal custody. The 66-year-old was facing up to 45 years in prison on charges of sex-trafficking several teenage girls.