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The former assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Prisons says that Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice’s move to a minimum security prison is “highly unusual.”
Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison facility in Tallahassee, Florida, to a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, her attorney previously told Fox News Digital. Neither the Bureau of Prisons nor Maxwell’s attorney gave a reason for the move.
Others at the female-only faculty, FPC Bryan, include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and celebrity housewife Jen Shah. The prison primarily houses white-collar criminals convicted of non-violent crimes.
The move sparked criticism from the family of Virginia Giuffre, who said in a statement to Fox News they oppose the treatment Maxwell has been given.
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“It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received,” Giuffre’s family wrote in a statement. “Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency. 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.”
Judi Garrett, former assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told Fox News Digital the transfer of Maxwell to FCP Bryan is “highly unusual.”
Garrett said it’s “very rare” for a sex offender to be transferred to a minimum security facility like FCP Bryan, adding that traditionally, individuals designated as a sex offender cannot be placed inside a camp.
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“I am sure there were more than one, but it was very rare, and it required a tremendous amount of work to convince us at the Bureau of Prisons that that information initially contained in the pre-sentencing investigation report was somehow inaccurate, mischaracterized, etc,” Garrett said.
At federal prison camps like FPC Bryan, Garrett said that there’s no fence, and prisoners aren’t watched constantly.
“Being that camps are minimum security, the notion is we don’t have fear that the people are going to run off because they are unrestricted essentially,” Garrett said. “You could leave whenever you want, there’s no fence. We don’t fear that you are gonna harm one another, and we don’t have fear that you are going pose any kind of risk to the community. Minimal staffing so that people are not watching you all the time, supervising you all time.”
Since Maxwell is at a minimum-security prison camp, Garrett said it’s not likely prison guards will be able to keep a closer eye on Maxwell versus other inmates.
“Really hard to do in a camp, you just don’t have staff there,” she said. “I don’t know, honestly, that there’s a lot they can do, and I think that’s probably what is giving them some heartburn, given her connection to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Dave Aronberg, former Palm Beach County State Attorney, previously told Fox News Digital Maxwell’s new facility is more of a “dorm-style housing situation, rather than a cell.”
Maxwell’s move to FCP Bryan comes a week after she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at a courthouse in Florida to discuss her involvement with Epstein, whom she helped procure underage girls for him to abuse.
A senior administration official previously told Fox News that “Any false assertion this individual was given preferential treatment is absurd. Prisoners are routinely moved in some instances due to significant safety and danger concerns.”
Fox News’ Julia Bonavita and David Spunt contributed to this report.
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