A former prisoner who shared a jailhouse dorm with Ghislaine Maxwell has revealed how Jeffrey Epstein’s former madam would spend her days behind bars.
Jessica Watkins, 42, a transgender Army veteran and former Oath Keeper was imprisoned alongside the 63-year-old inside FCI Tallahassee for her involvement in the Capitol riot.
Maxwell is serving 20 years behind bars on child sex trafficking charges for her role helping Epstein exploit and abuse multiple minors over the course of a decade.
Epstein’s victims alleged they were procured by Maxwell and passed around his billionaire friends and associates who regularly visited his homes, which included his private island. He was eventually found dead in his cell from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial.
Speaking with the Daily Mail this week, Watkins said Maxwell mostly kept to herself inside the prison, a low security facility in the Florida capital, where she has rebranded herself as a teacher to other inmates.
It comes after Watkins said she wanted to get ‘ahead of potential narratives’ about Maxwell, insisting that ‘she isn’t suicidal in the least’.
Recalling the first time she clocked the disgraced socialite inside, Watkins said she had to do a double take to make sure it was her.
She said: ‘It’s an open dorm, it’s a big bay full of bunk beds, there is no cells. I walked by and I seen her there.
‘I did a double take because I recognized her face immediately from the news. I was like “is that who I think it is?”‘
A former prisoner who shared a jailhouse dorm with Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured) has revealed how Jeffrey Epstein’s former madam would spend her days behind bars
Maxwell is currently incarcerated inside FCI Tallahassee, an aerial shot of the facility is seen here
‘My friend who was with me was like “I don’t know who is it?”, I caught her up on the situation. Started asking around and it was definitely her.’
Watkins, who had her sentenced commuted in January, said her and Maxwell would go on to speak several times a week, typically while exercising around the yard.
She said that Maxwell brought up her own case a few times and only made one mention of Epstein, her former lover and boss, that she could remember.
‘We don’t talk about cases as inmates because people will think you’re a snitch, it’s an unspoken rule among inmates. You don’t ask,’ she explained.
‘[Maxwell] did bring it up a couple times but it was very very hush hush. She didn’t talk a lot about it.
‘She did say that the DOJ had no interest in her until after, her exact words were until after Jeffrey, and then she paused for a second and said died. That was the only time he ever came up.’
According to Watkins Maxwell came across as being at ease inside prison, adding that she ‘didn’t seem unduly worried’.
She added: ‘The open dorm situation is very good, there’s like 40 or 50 people around so if anybody tried anything, there’s witnesses. She seemed very at ease, very calm and approachable.’
Watkins, seen here, said Maxwell mostly kept to herself inside the prison, a low security facility in the Florida capital. She had her sentenced commuted earlier this year
Watkins, a former member of the Oath Keepers militia group, is seen here outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2020
Epstein is seen here alongside Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019
Watkins said that anybody involved in child or sex cases is somewhat protected by the authorities.
‘If someone is to retaliate against her they catch an entire indictment and can get like 10 years or something.
‘I don’t think she feared anything from the other inmates, she was also very helpful. She worked in the law library’, she added.
In the US correctional facilities offer inmates the resources to access the courts and further understand their legal rights and options with in house law libraries.
Watkins said that Maxwell worked inside the one in Tallahassee and provided fellow inmates with the right legal forms and offered advice, even running her own classes.
‘She was very concerned about peoples medical well-being and so she did have that kind side to her.’
Despite this, Watkins added that Maxwell did make her uneasy, due to her being aware of the nature of her case.
She added: ‘[Maxwell] made me nervous, anytime she came around she made me nervous but she was very nice.’
Maxwell is said to have kept to herself, and had one close friend who Watkins identified only as Lisa
This March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, seen here kissing Epstein, worked inside the law library at FCI Tallahassee, according to Watkins
Watkins said that outside of helping others with legal cases, Maxwell spent her time working out and reading books constantly. She revealed the madam has a taste for classic literature.
She never recalled seeing Maxwell with a tablet inside or ever spending time inside the TV room, deciding to work on her case or read instead.
Watkins also took aim at the food available to inmates as being ‘not fit for human consumption’ while saying that she recalled Maxwell eating kosher meals.
Maxwell is said to have kept to herself, and had one close friend who Watkins identified only as Lisa. Lisa told others she was a doctor before her prison stint.
According to Watkins the facility had problems with drug use amongst inmates, particularly the prescription opioid Suboxone and crystal meth.
Due to this, she said her and Maxwell bonded over not being hooked on the substances.
‘We avoided most of the inmates cause they were high all the time and we didn’t want to be around that. She would gravitate towards people who were also sober,’ Watkins said.
‘We walked the track one day and we were trying to calculate how many people were sober in the prison, I think we came up with 12’, she added.
Maxwell is seen here exercising around the yard at the prison, something she would do frequently according to Watkins
The only other details of her private life Maxwell gave out was that her father had worked in the media, according to Watkins.
Epstein and Maxwell were previously pictured alongside President Donald Trump in the past, Maxwell only made mention mention of Trump inside once, Watkins added.
She said: ‘There was something in the news about Trump having Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago or something.
‘I guess she had done some interview and the media had asked her about President Trump, and she came back and said “well like why are you interested in Trump and not the Clintons?”.
‘I guess they were far closer, I don’t know. It was a passing statement, she never really elaborated on that.’
Watkins said that Maxwell was not suicidal, suggesting her former bunkmate could meet the same fate as Epstein who was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019.
At the time of Epstein’s death, which was ruled a suicide, he had pleaded not guilty to the charges held against him.
His suicide fueled public speculation that he was assassinated as part of a cover-up to protect other high-profile individuals who were potentially complicit in his crimes.
From that, a theory that the well-connected financier maintained a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked emerged.
President Trump and First Lady Melania are seen here alongside Epstein and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February of 2000
The Trump administration backed that notion, with the president himself saying on the campaign trail last year that he would make sure the list was released.
An all out MAGA civil war has ensued after Trump’s Department of Justice said in a memo earlier this month that, despite fueling theories for years, there is no list.
Attorney General Pam Bondi made promises that raised the expectations of conservatives, maintaining this year that the list ‘was on her desk’.
To some fanfare, right-wing influencers were welcomed to the White House in February and provided with binders marked ‘The Epstein Files: Phase 1’.
It later emerged that the information contained in the dossiers handed over was already publicly available.
The DOJ also released videos from inside the New York City facility where Epstein died, saying it proved he committed suicide.
Critics have pointed to the fact that there is a crucial minute missing from the footage that also does not show the door or, indeed, the inside of Epstein’s jail cell.
It us a challenging crisis for Trump to maneuver, as he spent the last few years stoking theories and embracing propaganda that he is the chosen one to demolish the ‘deep state’.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, seen here alongside Trump, made promises that raised the expectations of conservatives, maintaining this year that the list ‘was on her desk’
Now that he’s back in charge of the government, his supporters who viciously support him have turned on him, demanding answers.
He spoke with reporters on Tuesday, saying: ‘I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is.’
Asked whether Bondi had told him his name was in the Epstein files, Trump said no. He then praised her handling of the case.
He went on to suggest, without citing evidence, that the documents were ‘made up’ by former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Maxwell indicated this week that she is willing to testify before Congress about the so-called Epstein list.
A source told the Daily Mail: ‘Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal.
‘She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story. No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows.
‘She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.’
Her family have frequently claimed she ‘did not receive a fair trial’, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts
Ghislaine Maxwell’s family (pictured) broke their silence this week to insist she is innocent and was subjected to ‘government misconduct’
Her family have frequently claimed she ‘did not receive a fair trial’, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.
In a statement this week her family said: ‘If necessary, in due course they will also file a writ of habeas corpus in the US district court, SDNY.
‘This allows her to challenge her imprisonment on the basis of new evidence such as government misconduct that would have likely changed the trial’s outcome.’
That new challenge would be ‘on the basis of new evidence such as government misconduct that would have likely changed the trial’s outcome’.
The family argue that Maxwell should have been protected under an agreement Epstein entered with the Department of Justice in 2007, in which they vowed not to prosecute any of his co-conspirators after he ‘paid fines, paid ‘victims’ millions of dollars and served 13 months in prison.’
The family wants Maxwell’s sentence to be vacated and for her to be referred for resentencing, accusing the court of also ‘applying an incorrect guideline range and offense level.’.
