Inmates Say They Were Punished for Speaking Out About Ghislaine Maxwell at Texas Prison

Two women who served time at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, say they were removed from the facility and formally disciplined after speaking to journalists about convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell was transferred to the Bryan camp in August 2025 from a low-security prison in Florida, a move prison consultants described as highly irregular given the nature of her convictions.

Julie Howell, a former associate professor serving a one-year sentence for financial crimes, received word through her husband that a reporter from The Telegraph wanted her reaction to Maxwell’s arrival.

After consulting the prison handbook and a fellow inmate, Howell concluded there was no outright ban on speaking to the press, and forwarded a message to the journalist expressing deep concern about Maxwell’s presence at the facility.

In the message, Howell wrote that every inmate she had spoken with was upset Maxwell was there, noting that human trafficking is a violent crime and that her arrival had triggered lockdowns that further restricted inmates’ already limited freedoms.

Several days later, a prison guard pulled Howell from a puppy training rehabilitation programme and took her to the lieutenant’s office, where an officer told her the story had spread across the internet and that the matter was “above him.”

After waiting about an hour, Howell said warden Tanisha Hall arrived, told her she had ruined her weekend, dismissed her apology, rolled her eyes, and walked out.

Howell was then transferred to a higher-security federal detention centre in Houston, where she spent roughly three months before being moved to a halfway house.

She was officially reprimanded for disruptive conduct, mail abuse, and contacting the public without authorisation, according to a Bureau of Prisons incident report reviewed by CNN.

A second former Bryan inmate, who spoke to CNN anonymously due to fears of further punishment, said she too was moved to the Houston facility after speaking to a reporter in September, despite being careful not to criticise Maxwell directly.

She said the warden had made clear from Maxwell’s first day that any public comments about the convicted sex trafficker would not be tolerated, and that inmates who did speak out were accused of jeopardising staff safety and interfering with an FBI investigation.

Maxwell’s incarceration has drawn intense scrutiny, with speculation persisting over whether she received preferential treatment in exchange for cooperation with authorities on matters connected to Jeffrey Epstein.