Ghislaine Maxwell Is Teaching Yoga and Etiquette in Prison; Raniere Rots With Fly in SHU
Ghislaine Maxwell, 61, is a federal inmate serving a 20 year sentence at Tallahasee FCI. The US DOJ prosecuted her for procuring girls for Jeffrey Epstein to rape, degrade and abuse.
Her crimes occurred decades ago, but with Epstein gone – through a curious mystery while inside a federal holding center – the government needed someone to prosecute and convict. Maxwell substituted for Epstein.
She was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy for luring girls to Epstein.
Maxwell, nicknamed ‘Max’ by prison inmates, is lodged with 754 other female prisoners at Tallahasee FCI, which is described as “a low security federal correctional institution with a detention center.”
She is scheduled to be released on July 17, 2037.
The good news is Maxwell is keeping busy and apparently trying to help others in prison. She teaches etiquette and yoga classes.
She also works in the library.
She recently completed a four week- twice-weekly etiquette class, attended by about 40 female convicts.
The BOP supports her efforts. Her etiquette course counts towards the First Step Act, and attendees get 15 days reduced off their sentences.
Her classes covered how to dress and speak at a job interview, having confidence, and tips helpful for women in the business world.
A flier announcing the classes was pinned inside the prison, which read, “Taught by Mrs. Maxwell this course teaches the three principles of etiquette – focusing on respect, consideration and honesty.”
The prison approved a second etiquette series since the first class was successful.
Maxwell teaches her classes in English and Spanish with the help of a Colombian inmate as a translator.
She also jogs for as long as an hour on the prison’s outdoor 400-meter track.
Maxwell is appealing her conviction and sentence.
Despite the challenge to her conviction, she is making points with the prison. Trying to help women when they leave prison not to return – at the BOP, they appreciate such efforts.
Her treatment there is likely to get better.
Contrast that with Keith Alan Raniere. He, too, is attacking his conviction.
Instead of trying to help inmates improve their lives, or work for the betterment of USP Tucson, he chose to sue the warden and other prison officials.
He complained they cut off a legal phone call, and would not let him talk to his power of attorney, Suneel Chakravorty.
The wisdom of that fight led to Raniere’s assignment to the SHU for five and a half months.
Most of the time Raniere has been sharing a cell with an intersex man/woman, Richard Anthony ‘Toni’ Fly.
Raniere's SHU "cellie" is Toni Fly, a transgender woman who was sentenced to prison for rape when she was a man.
Toni Fly
A source told FR the prison stopped providing Fly with his sex change drugs – testosterone blockers and/or estrogen, and Fly has been depressed, sometimes violent and aggressive, sometimes raving.
He has not been aggressive with Raniere, however. The two men get along as well as could be expected when locked in a 120 square foot cell, 23 hours per day during the week and 24 hours per day on weekends.
They sleep above or below each other on bunks and share a toilet by the foot of the bed. They eat their cold meals together, tolerate each other’s sounds, sights, and smells, and have mainly each other to speak with, look at and touch, if they touch.
As for Ghislaine Maxwell, it will be a curious experiment. She was once, and perhaps still is, arguably, the most hated woman in America. She is attempting to work her way back to grace.
If she remains in prison for 20 years, until she is 80, she can look forward to helping maybe hundreds of women not return to prison.
Whatever else Maxwell did in her past, she should be encouraged to share what knowledge she has with those who landed in the same prison as she.
What Raniere can do with his future is also up to him. He could begin upon a new path. He could begin today. Maybe he will.
His arrogance and superiority allow him to believe he's smarter and can manipulate lowly prison guards. That's where he's a fool. If he ever gets out of the Shu, he'll be a different man. He can't endure this treatment. Not many could.