Ghislaine Maxwell is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Photos / Getty, US DOJ
Ghislaine Maxwell is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Photos / Getty, US DOJ
Ghislaine Maxwell, who is allegedly linked to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has been transferred to a New York prison which has been branded as a "hell hole" by a former warden.
The British socialite was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) and held without bail after being charged with recruiting women and girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse.
She had been transferred on Monday from a New Hampshire prison as she waits for her hearing at Manhattan's Federal Court on Friday.
The jail is a vastly different space from what Maxwell would be used to as she often resided with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein before his arrest and suicide at a luxurious townhouse.
She had also bought a secluded property named "Tucked Away" in a small town in New Hampshire, from where she was taken into custody.
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / Getty Images
The Brooklyn lockup, where the 58-year-old is being held, has previously earned a reputation as one of the worst federal jails in the US due to several investigations over prisoner abuse and poor conditions.
The jail's former warden, Cameron Lindsay, branded it "one of the most troubled" federal facilities in the prison system with a "unique history of staff misconduct".
In 2007, 11 MDC prison guards were charged with beating inmates in a brutal attack which left one prisoner's cell covered in blood and clumps of hair.
Guards at the jail have previously been found guilty of repeatedly raping and beating inmates. Photo / US DOJ
The guards were also accused of covering up the beatings by filing false reports on the attacks which occurred in 2002 and 2006.
In 2018, an investigation led to three officers being convicted of sexual abuse of female inmates, including one lieutenant who repeatedly raped a prisoner.
During 2016, a judge expressed reluctance about sending women to the Brooklyn jail; she believed the conditions made it sound like it was in "some third-world country".
Ghislaine Maxwell is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. Photo / US DOJ
Reports of misconduct in the jail have continued as an inmate died after prison staff sprayed him with pepper spray last month, sparking an investigation by the Justice Department's Inspector General.
In May, another inmate died at the facility.
Former warden Lindsay told Daily Mail that life in jail would be a "crushing experience", especially for those from luxurious backgrounds.
"You go from living a life like Maxwell to all of a sudden being ... strip-searched and having people look into your body cavities," he said.
It is not known if Maxwell is sharing a cell with another inmate, which Lindsay said would make her a target.
The prison (cell toilet pictured) has been described as one of the most troubled in America by its former warden. Photo / US DOJ
For other prisoners, injuring Maxwell "would be a badge of honour", she said.
Speaking to the New York Post, prison officials at the MDC revealed that they are determined to not allow Maxwell to die in prison as Epstein did.
"They want to make sure she'll stand trial," the source said, adding that the Bureau of Prisons doesn't want another "black eye".
The source added that Maxwell will be guarded by the prison's highest security available.
They have set up a surveillance camera in her cell and a police officer will be with her at all times while outside the cell, the source said.
The Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Photo / AP
Maxwell will remain locked up at the MDC until the hearing when a judge will determine if she will stay behind bars until her trial or be granted bail.
Under the prison system's coronavirus protocols, Maxwell faces an immediate 14-day quarantine and will be tested for the virus.
An indictment made public last week accused Maxwell of facilitating Epstein's crimes by helping him to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse.
