London: Ghislaine Maxwell has submitted 300 complaints to officials over her treatment in jail, including a lack of food and clean water, it has been revealed.
The former socialite was convicted on five charges last December, including one of sex-trafficking of a minor, and is serving a 20-year sentence.
Ghislaine Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison.Credit:AP
Her conviction is the subject of an appeal that could be heard as early as 2023, sources say.
Maxwell also spoke of feeling sorry for her “dear friend” Prince Andrew after his reputation suffered as a result of their relationship.
The 60-year-old told The Mail on Sunday, “I accept that this friendship could not survive my conviction.
“He is paying such a price for the association. I consider him a dear friend. I care about him.” Maxwell added: “I feel so bad for him.”
Prince Andrew pictured with Virginia Giuffre, then Virginia Roberts, at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell, right, in London in 2001.
Maxwell has gone on a charm offensive ahead of her appeal, giving an interview about her treatment during her incarceration at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida, and the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York.
Her decision to give the interview may be part of a strategy to win over public opinion ahead of her appeal, after she declined to give evidence at her own trial.
Ten months after her conviction, Maxwell now shares a 3-metre by 2.5-metre cell with three other inmates, she told the newspaper, and is locked up for 23 out of every 24 hours.
During her isolation at MDC, Maxwell experienced a lack of food and clean water, as well as “profound loneliness”, she claimed. She submitted 300 separate complaints to officials.
Ghislaine Maxwell sketched giving a statement in a New York court in June. Credit:AP
A “bounty” was also allegedly put on her head and a fellow inmate planned to kill her, she said.
However, she no longer feels unsafe after being moved to the low-security Florida facility in July, where she is expected to serve out her sentence.
She said, “It’s still jail. It’s very far from a cushy country club, as I have seen it reported. You’re locked up the entire time.
“When they do let you out for an hour, there’s not a chair for everybody in the communal space and no way to watch TV.”
Because of COVID restrictions, inmates are not allowed outside and are only permitted out of their cells for a maximum of one hour a day, she said.
She and her cell mates are given one cupboard each, measuring 60 centimetres by 90 centimetres, for their belongings.
Maxwell’s typical day involves waking up at 6am, a breakfast of milk and cereal, lunch at 10.30am, standing in line for a 4pm headcount, an evening meal and lights out at 10pm.
She also revealed that she has been working in the jail’s law library and education centre. “I’ve been helping people with anything that is possible,” she said.
“I look at it as an opportunity to use whatever abilities I have to help the people around me, because some of them really don’t have much.”
The Telegraph, London
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