On a sweltering mid-August weekend, hundreds of women at Federal Prison Camp Bryan were locked in their dorms, missing family time and fresh air. All except one: Ghislaine Maxwell. The 63-year-old Jeffrey Epstein confidante, convicted for helping him abuse underage teens, held a quiet meeting with several visitors inside the prison chapel while the rest of the camp was on ice, according to a new report from the WSJ, citing people familiar with the matter.
Maxwell had landed at the minimum-security Texas facility less than three weeks earlier, after a sudden transfer from a higher-security prison in Tallahassee. That move alone raised eyebrows: Bureau of Prisons policy generally keeps sex offenders out of camps without a special waiver. Her defense has said she faced “serious danger” in Florida; the bureau won’t say how many waivers like this exist – or why Maxwell got one.
The ripple effects inside Bryan were immediate. Inmates say the usually relaxed camp tightened the screws: more frequent lockdowns, armed guards on site, and SORT tactical teams posted at the gates. Black tarps went back up on the fence line. Guards delivered meals to Maxwell’s room, escorted her for late-night workouts, and let her shower after others were confined. Meanwhile, resentment simmered. Some inmates called her a “chomo,” prison slang for child molester. The warden, sources said, warned that threats or media chatter would earn a fast ticket to a harsher joint.