Maxwell’s Next Home Will Be Prison That’s No ‘Camp Cupcake’ (1)
2021-12-30 14:29:40.873 GMT

By Bob Van Voris and Chris Dolmetsch
(Bloomberg) — Ghislaine Maxwell’s high-society days are
over as she faces years in a prison that’s likely to be harsher
than the so-called “Camp Cupcake” prison where Martha Stewart
served.
Maxwell, the socialite ex-girlfriend of disgraced financier
Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted Wednesday on five counts tied to
sexual abuse, including the most serious charge of sex-
trafficking of a minor, which carries a maximum sentence of 40
years.
Because she was convicted of sex crimes, Maxwell won’t be
assigned to a minimum-security prison camp like the one in
Alderson, West Virginia, that housed Stewart, with its
dormitory-style housing and limited fencing, according to prison
consultant Justin Paperny. Alderson has been called “Camp
Cupcake” by critics who fault it for its cushy conditions and
activities that include “progressive relaxation.”
If Maxwell is given closer to the high end of what she
faces she’ll likely end up in a medium-security prison,
according to Paperny, who runs White Collar Advice, which
advises clients facing prison.
“She is probably in shock now and will be for some time,”
said Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun, a former executive at Tiffany & Co.
who spent 10 months at Alderson after admitting to stealing from
the company. “With proper counseling she can make her sentence
productive if she focuses on giving back, meaning helping others
and taking full responsibility for her actions.”
Maxwell’s attorney said late Wednesday that she will appeal
the verdict. Maxwell’s trial judge didn’t set a sentencing date
for the socialite, who still faces a trial on two perjury
counts. That trial hasn’t yet been scheduled.
The decision where to house Maxwell will be up to the
federal Bureau of Prisons. The bureau doesn’t comment on
individual cases, but factors considered in assigning inmates
include the “security and supervision the inmate requires, any
medical or programming needs, separation and security measures
to ensure the inmates protection, and other considerations
including proximity to an individual’s release residence,”
according to spokesman Donald Murphy.
Inmates in higher-security facilities are generally
confined to cells rather than rooms and endure more intense
security procedures. Those prisons tend to house people who are
convicted of more serious crimes, have longer prison sentences
and are more prone to violence.
Still, anywhere she goes will likely be an upgrade from the
Brooklyn federal lockup where she’s been held since being
charged in July 2020 with helping Epstein sexually abuse
underage girls. Prior to her conviction, Maxwell, the daughter
of the British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, made numerous
complaints about her conditions at the Metropolitan Detention
Center — a jail that federal investigators have deemed among
the worst in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons System.
‘You Are Not Special’: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Complaints From
Jail
“She’s enduring arguably the worst and filthiest prison in
the country,” said Paperny. “Wherever she serves her time will
feel like Disneyland compared to where she is right now.”
It’s all been a startling turn for Maxwell, who was
arrested at a million-dollar 156-acre estate in New Hampshire,
and owned a New York City townhouse that sold in 2016 for about
$15 million, as well as a London home in Belgravia.
Federal investigators found that MDC prisoners have been
beaten, raped and held in inhumane conditions. Maxwell has
complained about being held in solitary confinement, under 24-
hour surveillance, and being awakened every few hours each
night. She said conditions left her exhausted and unable to
properly help prepare her defense.
Of the 157,500 inmates currently in the federal prison
system, fewer than 11,000 — around 7% — are women, according
to the Bureau of Prisons. Of its 122 prison facilities in the
U.S., only 29 house women, and 11 of those are short-term
lockups like the MDC where Maxwell was held for trial.
Her future home will be based on the classification she
receives from federal prison officials, said Jack Donson, a
prison consultant who worked for the Bureau of Prisons for more
than 23 years. That will depend, in part, on the length of her
sentence and a determination by prison authorities whether
Maxwell, who has U.S., U.K., and French citizenship, presents a
risk to escape.
If Maxwell is given a more lenient sentence, she may be
headed to the low-security federal prison in Danbury,
Connecticut known for housing “Orange is the New Black” author
Piper Kerman and reality television star Teresa Giudice, said
Paperny.
But Donson said the Bureau will likely assign a famous
convict like Maxwell to a secure facility away from a major
city, making the Danbury prison, not far from New York, less
likely.
“They’re never going to put her near New York or anywhere
you’re going to have reporters camping out on the road,” he
said.
The differences between a minimum security camp and low-
security federal correctional institution, or FCI, can be
dramatic, said Larry Levine, founder of Wall Street Prison
Consultants, who served more than 10 years in federal prison and
now advises convicted criminals on how to survive incarceration.
Camps often have a relatively high proportion of non-
violent white-collar offenders and violence is rare. Violence is
more likely in FCIs, which can house bank robbers, drug dealers
and people convicted of sex crimes. So while camps don’t have
perimeter fences or armed security, FCIs have two secure barbed
wire fences with roving, armed security, he said. The doors to
camp housing unit doors are never locked, a contrast to FCIs,
where inmates are locked in at night.
Several consultants said Maxwell’s notoriety and the nature
of her crime — helping Epstein victimize teenage girls — may
make her a target.
“If she is still in denial that she did not contribute to
the actions taken by herself and Mr. Epstein, she will be a
pariah both inside and outside of prison,” said Lederhaas-Okun,
who consults for White Collar Advice.
Maxwell’s education, wealth and former jet-setting
lifestyle will set her apart from most inmates, she said.
While Maxwell will have an advantage because of her access
to cash for food, clothing, makeup and running shoes that other
inmates can’t afford, this “can cause jealously in others,”
Lederhaas-Okun said.
Maxwell will likely be assigned a job, where she’ll make a
paltry 12 to 14 cents an hour. “Do it and don’t complain,”
Lederhaas-Okun advised. “The worst thing she could do is whine
about her situation.”