Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for her role in trafficking teenage girls. Photo / US Federal Bureau of Prisons
Ghislaine Maxwell said she was “much happier” after being moved to a United States minimum-security prison, emails show.
The British socialite and former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein was relocated to a prison camp 160km outside Houston, Texas, in August from a stricter low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, where she was serving a 20-year jail sentence for procuring underage girls for the paedophile financier.
Days after moving to Federal Prison Camp [FCP], Bryan, she sent a series of emails to friends and family praising the cleanliness and safety of the new facility, where inmates mostly serve time for non-violent offences and white-collar crimes.
In emails obtained by the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee, Maxwell said the food was “legions better” and that “everyone can breathe a sigh [of relief]”, comparing the sharp difference between the two prisons to climbing through “Alice in Wonderlands [sic] looking glass”.
“The institution is run in an orderly fashion which makes for a safer more comfortable environment for all people concerned, inmates and guards alike,” wrote Maxwell, NBC News reported.
Maxwell’s unexpected move to the all-women’s prison camp outraged families of Epstein’s victims and some inmates, who claimed the child sex-trafficker was receiving preferential treatment.
Days before the emails emerged, Maxwell was interviewed by Todd Blanche, US President Donald Trump’s deputy attorney-general, leading to intense speculation that some sort of deal has been cut.
Inmates at prison camp Bryan benefit from a low prison guard-to-inmate ratio, limited to no perimeter fencing and can enrol in a puppy-training programme – although Maxwell is barred owing to the nature of her crimes.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos – the technology company that collapsed following a fraud scandal – is serving her 11-year sentence at the prison facility.
Following Maxwell’s move, she expressed her relief to relatives about being at a quieter facility, free from violence and with polite staff.
“My situation is improved by being at Bryan,” she wrote in one email, according to NBC.
“The kitchen looks clean too – no possums falling from the ceiling to fry unfortunately on ovens, and become mingled with the food being served,” she wrote in another, complaining about the conditions at her former jail.
She also praised the prison camp warden Tanisha Hall as a “true professional”.
“I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderlands [sic] looking glass,” Maxwell told a relative, adding: “I am much much happier here and more importantly safe”.
“Bryan is a different beast in every possible respect to Tal. It is a well managed well run institution with an execellent [sic] Warden who leads from the top.
“She is a true professional and the best representative of the BOP [Federal Bureau of Prisons] I have met,” Maxwell wrote.
The emails were shared with the House Judiciary Committee after Congressman Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, wrote to the prison warden to ask about Maxwell’s alleged “VIP treatment”.
Raskin’s letter cited claims, reported by the Wall Street Journal, that Maxwell had been granted unique perks such as meals sent to her room, late-night workouts and freedom to shower after other inmates had gone to bed.
Raskin also raised concerns that other inmates have been threatened with retaliation if they speak about Maxwell to the media.
An inmate who told the Telegraph they did not want “disgusting” sex offenders like Maxwell at the prison was moved days later.
“While prison officials may limit inmates’ First Amendment rights to preserve security and order, you have provided no such justification for why prison security requires a ‘Ghislaine Maxwell’ gag order,” Raskin wrote.
Emails sent by Maxwell suggest the prison warden helped her to co-ordinate visits and difficulties with her legal battles.
Email from Ghislaine Maxwell to relative: July 8, 2025, 8am
Bryan is a different beast in every possible respect to Tal. It is a well managed well run institution with an execellent Warden who leads from the top. She is a true professional and the best representative of the BOP I have met. The food is legions better, the place is clean, the staff responsive and polite - I haven’t seen or heard the usual foul language or screaming accompanied by threats levelled at inmates by anyone. I have not seen a single fight, drug deal, passed out person or naked inmate running around or several of them congregating in a shower! In other words I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderlands looking glass. I am much much happier here and more importantly safe. So yes everyone can breath a sigh.
In one correspondence with her lawyer in September, the sex-trafficker allegedly said she spoke to the prison warden when she had a problem receiving documents in time for her Supreme Court appeal deadline.
“Her creative solution was that you EM/scan it to her and she will scan back my changes!” Maxwell wrote, referring to her lawyer contacting the warden. “Of course that is fantastic as it saves days and days.”
Maxwell was interviewed by the Justice Department in late August as the Administration came under extreme pressure to fulfil its promise to release the Epstein files.
The department later released transcripts in which Maxwell said she never witnessed any inappropriate conduct by Trump or any other prominent figures in Epstein’s orbit.
The paedophile financier died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019 but has since become a source of intense scrutiny among Trump supporters owing to the horrific nature of his crimes and his cadre of wealthy associates.
After the Supreme Court in October declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal of her criminal conviction, Trump suggested he “would have to take a look” at whether he would consider granting her a pardon.
Email from Ghislaine Maxwell to lawyer: September 16, 2025, 11.35am
Helloo.. I spoke to the Warden about the problem with the mail telling her that the documents have not arrived yet and now we are on day 7. I explained that we have a deadline that hinges on the Supreme Court and that I was hoping to have 2 turns of the document before it files with the court possibly as soon as the end of the month.
Her creative solution was that you EM/scan it to her and she will scan back my changes! Of course that is fantastic as it saves days and days. I assume that you are fine with that?
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer, said: “There’s nothing journalistic about publishing a prisoner’s private emails, including ones with her lawyers. That’s tabloid behaviour, not responsible reporting.
“Anyone still interested in that kind of gossip reveals far more about themselves than about Ghislaine. It’s time to get over the fact that she is in a safer facility. We should want that for everyone.”
FCP Bryan and FCP Tallahassee were approached for comment.
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