Epstein associate transferred to NYC jail

Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to New York to face charges she recruited women and girls for him to sexually abuse.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Maxwell was transferred Monday and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Jack Donson, a former prison official who worked for the Bureau of Prisons for more than two decades, believes the decision not to house Maxwell at the same facility Epstein was in was made at the top.

"The Epstein situation is one of, you know, a checkered past of MCC New York. So, despite the mishandling of the Epstein case, you know, they probably just wanted to get her," Donson said. "One mile away, right over the bridge in a different environment, so they don't have that daily reminder of all the ineptness at MCC New York."

Donson, who advises white-collar criminals on what to expect in prison, has made frequent visits to the Brooklyn jail and said staff there can be belligerent, yelling and cursing at inmates. He is not involved in Maxwell's case.

Prosecutors have asked a judge to schedule a Friday court appearance in Manhattan federal court for Maxwell.

The 58-year-old was arrested last week at a $1 million estate she had purchased in New Hampshire.

Maxwell was the former girlfriend and longtime close associate of Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail last August while he awaited trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

She has denied wrongdoing.