(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Considering that she allegedly helped run one of the most infamous child sex trafficking operations in human history, many observers think Ghislaine Maxwell’s punishment was relatively timid—she received a 20-year sentence, which she’s serving in a low-security prison in Tallahassee.
But that hasn’t stopped Maxwell from fussing about the conditions of at the Tallahassee FCI. An article Monday in the Independent revealed the “seriously unsanitary conditions” at her new home.
Citing a report from Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, the Independent reported that “black filth smeared on walls, rodent infestations, and sanitary products being used to plug leaks in dilapidated living quarters are a few of the issues recorded” at Tallahassee FCI.
“The report highlighted the prison’s food service and storage facilities, with vegetables found rotting in fridges and mouldy bread served to inmates. The cafeteria was found to contain broken stools with sharp edges which could be used as weapons, leaking windows, and scores of dead insects,” the Independent reported.
“Food warehouses were found to contain ‘seriously unsanitary conditions,’ including evidence of droppings by rodents who had chewed through boxes of food, bags of cereal infested with insects, and rusted and warped food containers.”
The DOJ-IG report, which labeled Tallahassee FCI as “high risk,” also flagged the prison for its policies on transgender inmates.
“In particular, the report found that staff repeatedly misgendered transgender inmates despite Tallahassee housing the largest number of any Bureau of Prisons institution, with 119 at the time of inspection,” the Independent reported.
While Headline USA is sure that Maxwell’s prison conditions aren’t great, there are far worse places where she could have been sent.
For example, in January a federal judge declined to send non-violent inmates to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center due to its hellish conditions. U.S. Judge Jesse Furman cited three main reasons for condemning the MDC: its endless lockdowns, lack of healthcare and broken-down physical conditions.
In December, Headline USA also reported on an unnamed federal prison where inmates were being thrown in 3-feet-wide by 3-feet-long cages for hours on end.
Perhaps most notoriously, the first article in this publication’s “Fed Files” series described how neo-Nazi inmate Bill White experienced unimaginable torture in U.S. prison.
According to a 2019 medical examination by psychologist Richard Samuels, White was once held in isolation in a brightly lit cell for about three months, and slept for only about an hour a day during that time—an incident that contributed to him developing PTSD.
“In 2014, while Mr. White was incarcerated at the John C. Polk Correctional Facility/Seminole County, FL, he was subjected to a regimen of sleep deprivation,” Dr. Samuels wrote in his report.
“As described earlier, he was placed in segregation; alone in a small seven-foot by seven-foot room with constant bright illumination (24/7) over a period that of 105 days, or about three months, during which time he averaged approximately 1.2 hours of sleep per night,” Dr. Samuels wrote.
“During this period, he underwent a period of not eating or drinking and ultimately collapsed in his cell.”
As for Maxwell, she has an appeal in her case set for March 12, as her lawyers contest her conviction on five charges of recruiting and grooming four underage girls for the late pedophile financier to abuse between 1994 and 2004, the Independent reported.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
