Inmates have alleged that convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is receiving “special treatment” while behind bars — and anyone who speaks out about it is “punished.”

CNN correspondent MJ Lee joined Erin Burnett on Thursday’s OutFront to present a report in which she spoke to two women who were formerly incarcerated with Maxwell in Bryan, Texas. Maxwell was mysteriously transferred to the prison in 2025, a transfer that raised questions with critics since the sex trafficker was being relocated to a minimum security prison camp.

Maxwell’s transfer came amid interviews with now-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about her longtime association and crimes with fellow convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is serving 20 years for trafficking women with Epstein.

Her meetings with Blanche have raised more questions as the sit-downs failed to yield arrests of anyone associated with Epstein.

Lee reported inmates claimed they were “punished” for speaking about Maxwell’s transfer and treatment within the prison to the press.

“You’ll remember last summer, Maxwell was suddenly and mysteriously transferred to a minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas,” Lee reported on Thursday. “It made little sense at the time because a convicted child sex offender is not typically allowed to serve time at a minimum security facility like that. And adding to the intrigue at the time was that this was right after Maxwell had had this unusual two-day interview with the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”

One inmate who served some time with Maxwell at the Texas facility, Julie Howell, said prison officials were none too pleased with her after she spoke to the press, which she maintained she was allowed to do based on the prison handbook. Officials claimed prisoners can speak to reporters, but need preauthorization. Howell’s sentence recently ended.

She told Lee:

I was a little, I guess, I don’t use the word lightly, it was like a trigger because of, you know, my experience with my daughter being trafficked and just knowing all of the research I had done that the camps are supposed to be for non-violent offenders. I was very upset about her being moved. I said, you know I had spoken to other inmates, nobody was happy about her being there. You know, one, we all felt like we were being punished for her being there. And then given her crime, she shouldn’t be there per BOP policies and in procedures. And so it just, it was very unfair.

Howell said she answered a reporter’s question about Maxwell through her husband, and she was later written up by prison officials and transferred to a higher security prison.

She recalled:

The warden came in, asked what I was thinking, said that her phone was blowing up all weekend, I ruined her weekend. You know, I shouldn’t have talked to them. And I did apologize. I mean, at this point, I’m a little teary-eyed. I said, you know, I didn’t mean to cause issues, I answered a question. And when I told her that my daughter had a trafficking experience, she rolled her eyes, flipped her hair back, and she was like, it’s too late for apologies, and walked out.

Another inmate spoke out, but chose to remain anonymous as she is still serving time. According to the inmate, she was also kicked out of the Bryan facility after taking issue with the unusual amount of privileges Maxwell was receiving while serving a sentence for trafficking minors.

The inmate said:

Within a day of her arrival, we had armed guards, marshals patrolling. If she had a visitation, she would get to, they closed the chapel and the indoor rec and allowed her to use that building for her personal visits. When we had visitation that happened in the visitation building, which is good. We didn’t, you know, no one wanted her around the kids. And she’d get bottled waters and clamshell meals delivered to her room.

Watch above via CNN.

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