The only person from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit who is currently in prison is a woman: Ghislaine Maxwell.
Feb 4, 2026, 8:10 p.mFeb 4, 2026, 8:10 p.m
On August 10, 2019, investment banker Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison cell, at least according to official information. The sex offender, who was previously convicted in 2008, was awaiting trial there for child trafficking for sexual exploitation and conspiracy. At the center of the scandal that ensued is Epstein’s long-time aide Ghislaine Maxwell.
The British-American-French businesswoman has been serving a 20-year prison sentence since 2022. After Epstein’s death, she is the only person from his network who is currently in custody. After the US Department of Justice has statedSince no further charges are planned in the Epstein affair, nothing is likely to change for the time being.
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell actually, what are her prison conditions like – and what chances does she have of being able to leave prison early?
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?
Maxwell was born in 1961 as the ninth child of the French Holocaust researcher Elisabeth Maxwell, née Meynard (1921–2013), and the British publisher and politician Robert Maxwell (1923–1991). Her father, born Ján Ludvík Hoch in what was then Czechoslovakia, came to Britain as a Jewish refugee in 1940 and built a media empire after the war. He was also a member of the Labor Party’s House of Commons for a time. After his mysterious death – he disappeared from his yacht in 1991 and his naked body was found floating in the sea off Tenerife – it was revealed that he had falsified balance sheets and embezzled funds.
Maxwell had a relationship with Epstein for several years. Image: www.imago-images.de
Ghislaine Maxwell studied at Oxford and initially worked in her father’s media company. When his media empire collapsed after his death in 1991, she moved to the USA, to New York. There she worked in a real estate office on Madison Avenue and had a relationship for several years with Jeffrey Epstein, whom she probably knew since the late 1980s. Even afterwards, she remained a close confidant of Epstein, for whom she played a central role in setting up and running a ring for the sexual abuse of girls.
As a trained helicopter pilot, Maxwell Epstein flew several times to his island of Little Saint James in the Caribbean.Image: www.imago-images.de
Maxwell knew a number of celebrities who became acquainted with Epstein through her, including Bill Clinton and, most notably, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly well known as Prince Andrew. With him she had a close friendly relationshipas can be seen from emails that have now been published as part of the release of the Epstein files. After Epstein served 13 months of an 18-month prison sentence for soliciting a minor into prostitution in 2009, Maxwell continued to attend social events but was no longer seen in public with Epstein. Between 1999 and 2007, she received a total of at least $30.7 million from Epstein.
In 2015, she was sued by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre – Giuffre was the lead plaintiff against Epstein and died by suicide in 2025. Giuffre alleged that Maxwell recruited her for Epstein in 1999 and then made her engage in sexual acts several times after they met at Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago. The trial ended in a settlement in 2017 in which Maxwell Giuffre paid several million dollars.
After Epstein’s arrest and suicide in prison in 2019, Maxwell initially remained untraceable. However, on July 2, 2020, she was arrested by the FBI at a remote property in New Hampshire where she had been hiding. The indictment accused her of, among other things, sexual abuse of minors and human trafficking of children between 1994 and 2004. In June 2022, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. She is currently serving her sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas.
What role did she play in Epstein’s system?
According to the indictment, Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein’s “right-hand woman” who supported the sex offender in systematic sexual abuse, especially of underage girls. As a close confidante of Epstein, she organized the “supply” of young girls for him. To this end, she befriended potential victims, gained their trust and brought them into Epstein’s environment. She often promised them jobs, luxurious leisure activities, trips or parties with celebrities. She persuaded them to have “massages” and portrayed sexual abuse as something “normal”.
Through her role in the abuse ring, Maxwell gained access to Epstein’s luxurious life. Image: www.imago-images.de
According to witnesses, Maxwell was in the room during some of the sexual assaults. Sometimes she is said to have participated in sexual acts with the minors herself. She encouraged the girls to maintain secrecy and tied them to Epstein with gifts, money or promises. Through her help in setting up and running this abuse network, she gained access to Epstein’s wealth, participated in his luxurious life and socialized with celebrities.
What are their prison conditions like?
Maxwell was initially imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida. This is a low security federal prison. In August 2025 she was transferred to the… Bryan Federal Prison CampTexas, where she is still imprisoned. This facility for female prisoners has the lowest of five levels of security and Maxwell is subject to much lighter conditions there. The institution offers according to media reports a range of recreational facilities including a sports field, library and vocational training programs. The judicial authorities did not comment on the transfer.
Soon after the transfer to Texas, the media reported rumors that Maxwell was receiving preferential treatment at FPC Bryan. They said she would get special meals, expanded computer access, as much toilet paper as she wanted and access to a puppy. An inmate who trains puppies to be service dogs was instructed to provide Maxwell with a puppy for a certain period of time so that she could play with him. Otherwise, the assistance dogs in training are not allowed to be petted by inmates or employees. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin called for clarification about these perks in a letter to President Donald Trump, which had been brought to his attention by whistleblowers were.
Other perks reportedly afforded Maxwell include a special area where she can receive visitors and provide snacks and refreshments. In addition, the prison director should be available to her as a kind of “personal secretary and administrative assistant,” as he said Guardian reported. According to Raskin, the “deference and subservience toward Ms. Maxwell reached such absurd levels” that a top official at the institution complained that he was tired of having to be “Maxwell’s lackey.”
Raskin represents Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives. Image: keystone
Such benefits seem unusual, especially since sexual offenses are considered violent crimes. Inmates who, like Maxwell, are incarcerated for such offenses are usually isolated from the rest of the prison population because, on the one hand, they are considered dangerous and, on the other hand, there is an increased risk that they will be attacked or even killed by other prisoners.
When a prominent prisoner like Maxwell receives preferential treatment, it raises suspicions that it is in return for something that the authorities have received, for example useful information. That’s exactly what Eric Faddis, a former Colorado prosecutor, believes. He told the Guardian: “The government will not give a prisoner in custody all these benefits without anything in return. This tells me that the government believes it has received something valuable from Ghislaine and that this is some kind of reward for them.”
Faddis continued, he had already seen how inmates had improved their situation by collaborating with the government and providing information that was considered “useful.” However, this was not the case to the extent reported by Maxwell. If the rumors about their preferential treatment are true, it could be a quid pro quo, along the lines of: “We give you benefits because you keep your mouth shut and don’t burden people with power or money.”
However, these are assumptions and speculations. It’s also possible that Maxwell ended up at FPC Bryan simply because there simply aren’t many housing options for female inmates in the federal prison system.
Does she have a chance of being released early?
Maxwell’s release is currently scheduled for July 17, 2037. She would then be 75. However, she may not remain in prison for that long – there is a possibility that she will be pardoned by President Donald Trump. Last August, when asked about pardoning Maxwell, Trump said he would be allowed to do so, but no one asked him to do it; he knows nothing about the case. In October he said he hadn’t heard the name in a long time but would look into it. Maxwell’s lawyers, however, denied that she had asked for clemency.
In November, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said of a possible Trump pardon for Maxwell: “He has answered that question several times. It’s not something he’s talking about or even thinking about right now.”
Maxwell and Trump in Manhattan in 1997. Image: New York Daily News
However, a pardon for Maxwell is likely to trigger a significant negative reaction now and in the near future. Like that California Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia released a statementin which he called on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to publicly oppose Trump’s mitigation or pardon of Maxwell.
Of course, Trump is notoriously unpredictable. He may also wait until the end of his term in office to issue a pardon.
Trump explains his break with Epstein
Video: Watson/Michael Shepherd