'Prisons are dangerous': Ghislaine Maxwell claims inmate plotted to kill her in her sleep in Brooklyn prison
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA: Ghislaine Maxwell has revealed that a fellow inmate had plotted to kill her as she slept in her bed in prison. Maxwell, in her first interview since her conviction, says the incident took place at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Centre in New York after she was arrested in July 2020. "There was a woman who made a threat to act in a plan to murder me as I was sleeping. That is real. That happened," Maxwell said, according to The US Sun.
"Prisons are dangerous. I would tell anybody to do everything possible to avoid jail," she added. “Jails are not safe spaces. I have seen guards selling drugs and, God, being inappropriate in every which way.” Maxwell was incarcerated for several months at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre. The British socialite turned convicted sex trafficker 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.
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“The food in Brooklyn was truly, truly terrible," Maxwell said. "One day I was so hungry that I ate the only thing I had — Vaseline.” She recalled how she imagined it to be mayonnaise but it was still “very disgusting."
At the Metropolitan Detention Centre, Maxwell was placed on suicide watch days before she was scheduled to be sentenced. Bobbi Sternheim, who represents Maxwell, said in a letter to the US District Judge Alison Nathan that the Metropolitan Detention Center had placed her client on suicide watch. Sternheim claimed that this was done "without having conducted a psychological evaluation and without justification", adding that she has been wearing a "suicided smock." This is a piece of fabric that cannot be used to make a noose. Maxwell was also placed in solitary confinement. She was being held in the general population area of a prison where an inmate threatened to kill her. "One woman was going around openly bragging that she was going to murder Ghislaine for $1 million," a source told the Daily Mail.
Maxwell had claimed that her cell was squalid and tiny and that she was groped by guards in pat-downs. She claimed that she could not sleep and was woken up every 15 minutes with a torch light being flashed into her room. She alleged that she was fed "rancid" food, and was denied soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.
“I have never been suicidal. It has never crossed my mind in my entire life. The reason they put me on suicide watch was as a punishment because I have filed a number of grievances," she said in a recent interview. "First, they strip you of any remaining shred of dignity you have. They have you with no clothes, and put you in a suicide smock with Velcro straps on it. So there’s nothing to protect your modesty.”
Maxwell is now serving her 20-year sentence at FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison in the Sunshine State. She will reportedly be eligible for release on July 17, 2037. Maxwell reportedly earned as little as 15 cents an hour cleaning toilets at the prison, the Daily Mail reported. 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.
Maxwell said that despite some challenges, life is better in Florida than in Brooklyn. She said, “It was a compound. So I saw the sunlight for the first time.” Asked about her routine, Maxwell said “They wake you up at six. Then they call for those who are taking medication. So they have to go out and get their pills.”
Breakfast consists of milk, cereal, and an apple. “I will be happy never to see an apple [again],” she said. “I haven’t seen a piece of fruit except an apple. You’d think in Florida, at least there’d be an orange. But no.” However, she admitted the food is better “by a large margin." She has now got a job in the Education Centre law library and starts work at 7.30 am.