Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell quietly moved out of Florida federal prison

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, has quietly been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a lower-security facility in Texas, a federal Bureau of Prisons official confirmed Aug. 1.

The transfer comes as Maxwell’s attorneys are pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her conviction while also seeking a pardon or commutation for her from President Donald Trump in exchange for her cooperation in the Epstein investigation and broader sex trafficking issues.

Maxwell spent two days last week talking to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – Trump’s former personal defense lawyer – at a courthouse near the Tallahassee prison where she was serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking related to Epstein.

“We can confirm, Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas,” Bureau of Prisons inmate locator official Benjamin O'Cone said in an email to USA TODAY. The New York Sun newspaper first reported the transfer.

Maxwell attorney David Oscar Markus also confirmed to USA TODAY that “Ghislaine was moved to Bryan, Texas, but we have no other comment” as to why the transfer was made and who requested it.

Donald Murphy, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman, told USA TODAY, "While we cannot speak specifically to the circumstances relating to any incarcerated individual's designation or re-designation BOP institution, we can share that the BOP designates individuals to institutions based on several factors.

"Those factors include the level of security and supervision the inmate requires, any medical or programming needs, separation, and security measures to ensure the individual's protection, and other considerations, including proximity to an individual's release residence. The same criteria apply when making decisions for both initial designations and redesignations for transfer to a new facility."

The move sparked concern from the family of one of Maxwell’s most vocal accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, that the transfer is part of an undisclosed deal between the Justice Department and the Trump administration. In recent days, they have expressed worry that Tump and presidentially appointed leaders in the Justice Department are trying to silence Maxwell without receiving any input from possibly hundreds of accusers who say she and Epstein sexually abused them and forced them to have sex with prominent men who have not been identified publicly.

“The family is scrambling right now to figure out what’s going on,” spokeswoman Dini von Mueffling told USA TODAY. “They don’t understand why this is happening.”

After learning about the transfer details, Giuffre's family − and two other Maxwell and Epstein accusers − issued a statement excoriating the administration for the move.

"President Trump has sent a clear message today: Pedophiles deserve preferential treatment and their victims do not matter," said the statement by Giuffre's surviving siblings along with Annie and Maria Farmer.

The New York Times recently reported that Maria Farmer, a former Epstein employee, told law enforcement in 1996 that she encountered Trump in Epstein's New York office and Epstein told Trump: "No, no. She’s not here for you.” Annie Farmer, one of several women identified in Epstein's criminal case as a victim, has charged that the disgraced financier acted inappropriately with her when she was 15.

"It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received. Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency," the statement by the families and accusers said.

"Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum security luxury prison in Texas.  This is the justice system failing victims right before our eyes.  ... This move smacks of a cover up. The victims deserve better."

The prison swap is the latest development in the growing controversy over Trump’s relationship with Maxwell and Epstein, who died by suicide while in custody awaiting trial in 2019. On July 30, Giuffre’s surviving siblings and their spouses issued a lengthy statement calling for Maxwell to remain in prison and urging the Trump administration to release all documents in the case that are in the Justice Department’s possession.

Giuffre's family especially demanded answers about why Trump said in recent remarks that Epstein "stole" Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago spa more than 20 years ago. Trump and Epstein were friends for more than a decade in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been 'stolen' from Mar-a-Lago,” the family said. Giuffre died by suicide in April.

“It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side … no doubt about it,’" the family's statement added. "We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this.”

Trump made the comment on July 30, telling reporters that Epstein "stole her" while Giuffre was working as a spa attendant and that he subsequently banned Epstein from his Palm Beach residence and club after he tried to poach additional employees.

"I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people," Trump said. "He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever."

Giuffre had long insisted that Maxwell − Epstein’s longtime associate and former girlfriend – was the one who met her at the club and recruited her to serve as a masseuse for Epstein. That arrangement ultimately led to Epstein sexually abusing her and Maxwell trafficking Giuffre to have sex with other men, Giuffre said.

In their lengthy statement, the Giuffre family rejected Trump's characterization, saying she was "stolen" by Maxwell, not Epstein.

"We would like to clarify that it was convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell who targeted and preyed upon our then 16-year-old sister, Virginia, from Mar-a-Lago, where she was working in 2000, several years before Epstein and President Trump had their falling out," the family said.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the White House said no leniency is being given or discussed, and Trump has said he was not thinking about clemency for Maxwell.

FPC Bryan is described as a “minimum security federal prison camp” in South Central Texas on its Bureau of Prisons website. It says it houses 635 “female offenders.” Maxwell had been incarcerated in recent years at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, which is described as a low-security federal correctional institution housing 1,191 male and female inmates. 

Maxwell's new prison 'camp' appears to offer better living conditions

Maxwell's new prison "camp" appears to offer better conditions for inmates, according to the Bureau of Prisons' description. Such minimum-security camps often lack perimeter fencing, have dormitory-style housing with bunk beds and communal areas, and have lower staff-to-inmate ratios. Inmates are typically nonviolent offenders who are allowed to participate in work assignments, recreational activities and vocational training.

 All told, that environment would give Maxwell more freedom of movement within the facility during designated times, according to the Burea of Prisons descriptions. In contrast, bureau documents show that low-security prisons such as FCI Tallahassee generally have fences, more regimented movement policies and more structured environments.

Was Maxwell given a special waiver to go to the prison camp?

The prisons bureau had no comment on whether Maxwell’s transfer violated policy regarding keeping convicted sex offenders out of minimum-security prison camps.

According to a prisons bureau policy document reviewed by USA TODAY, the bureau classifies people with sex offense convictions using a Public Safety Factor (PSF) designation, which automatically excludes them from placement in minimum-security camps. “There are certain demonstrated behaviors which require increased security measures to ensure the protection of society,” including sex offenders, the document says. Others include those exhibiting repeated violent behavior, those considered serious escape risks and inmates who have threatened government officials.

These inmates with PSF designations “are not appropriate for placement at an institution which would permit inmate access to the community (i.e., MINIMUM security),” said the prisons bureau policy document from Sept. 4, 2019, titled “Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification.”

And while the Bureau of Prisons uses a point-based system for housing placement that factors in good behavior, the PSF designation overrides this system for sex offenders, the document says. As a result, sex offenders are placed – at minimum – in low-security institutions like TCI Tallahassee because they have a higher security level and more restrictions than minimum-security camps like the Texas facility where Maxwell has been sent.

The guidelines say inmates can get a special waiver from the Public Safety Factor requirements through the Bureau of Prisons’ Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) in Grand Prairie, Texas. Another prisons bureau document says that while general information regarding the designation or transfer process may be provided, “specific information about a particular inmate is not public information and may not be released” without a specific request.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual,” O’Cone, the prisons bureau official, told USA TODAY.

“While we cannot speak specifically to the circumstances relating to any incarcerated individual's designation or re-designation BOP institution, we can share that the BOP designates individuals to institutions based on several factors,” including the level of security and supervision the inmate requires, medical and programming needs, separation, and “security measures to ensure the individual's protection.”

O’Cone specifically declined to comment on whether Maxwell had received a waiver but referred to prisons bureau policy about how “Only the DSCC Administrator is authorized to waive a PSF." In other words, a Bureau of Prisons official at the centralized sentencing and designation center would have to approve it.

“I don’t have any details, but I do know the Public Safety Factor can be waived,” another Bureau of Prisons official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss policy matters.

(This story has been updated with more information.)